


The Cure

by vancssa



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: A little bit of Rofiya if you squint, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Apocalypse, Death, F/M, MRS squad, Ro is just a cinnamonroll, Rosanna Pansino & Matthew Patrick Friendship, Rosky, Saf is mad at her parents, Safty, Search, Stephew, They're screwed lol, Tyler and Safiya are flirting a lot, Undead, Zombie, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, failed experiment, looking for a cure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25454446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vancssa/pseuds/vancssa
Summary: "This is it. The Apocalypse."The time that everyone fears has come. The end of the world.When a group of scientists start an experiment, they quickly realize something's gone wrong. Very wrong.Their test subjects have seemingly died.. or so they thought.Strange creatures have risen from their grave. Commonly known as zombies. People thought they weren't real.Until now.Thrown into a world full of bloody teeth and disease, a group of unlikely friends must work together to escape the man-eating monsters who hunger for human flesh.Humanity must learn to help each other. They must learn not only save themselves, but also each other.If not, well... no one will survive.
Relationships: Matthew Patrick/Stephanie Patrick, Safiya Nygaard/Tyler Williams, The Detective | Matthew Patrick & The Investigative Reporter | Safiya Nygaard, The Detective | Matthew Patrick & The Jet Setter | Rosanna Pansino, The Investigative Reporter | Safiya Nygaard & The Jet Setter | Rosanna Pansino, The Jet Setter | Rosanna Pansino/Mike Lamond
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. New Experiment

***

Safiya quickly grabbed her camera before running downstairs.

"Hey dad, what are you reading?" She asked. The man sighed and gave her a letter.

"They need me to work on a new experiment, to increase the lifespan of a human." He said, shaking his head.

"Wow, that's quite impressive, right?" Safiya quickly read the letter. "I mean, what could happen?" 

"A lot. The test subjects can die.. Or worse." He trailed off.

"What's 'or worse'? They come back as zombies?" Safiya joked, her smile faded when her dad didn't laugh. "Sorry.."

"Don't worry, go to school." He forced himself to smile. "Making photos for the school paper today?" Safiya nodded and stuffed some breakfast in her mouth. "Shouldn't you be making friends? You're the new kid after all." Her dad grabbed the newspaper. Safiya flinched a bit.

"I'm not the new kid anymore, I've been going to this school for a year already, and besides, I'm not interested in _friends_ , I don't need them." Safiya paused for a moment. "Anyway, have you heard from mom today?"

Her mother was working at a lab, few hours away. She was coming home in two weeks and until then, it was just Safiya and her father.

"Not yet." Her dad answered. "Okay, see you tonight?" He nodded. Safiya got ready to leave. "Wait, did you take your medication?" Safiya bit her lip and shaked her head.

"No.."

"You need them."

"I know, but they make me slow." Safiya murmured.

"It's just for a few months." Her dad promised. "I'll see if I can get new ones, ones that won't make you slow."

"Okay, I'll take them."

***

A petite brunette quickly jumped into the car with a boy.

"You're late." He grinned.

"Sorry," She took a gasp for air, "I lost my phone." He laughed.

"Only you could lose your phone, Rosanna." Rosanna jokingly rolled her eyes.

"Well, Matt, have you talked to Stephanie yet?" She teased. A blush crept on Matt's face. Rosanna chuckled. "I know she likes you, I know you like her, just ask her."

"Only if you ask Mike, then sure." It was Rosanna's turn to blush. "There we go." Matt let out an evil chuckle.

"You're evil." Rosanna complained. "I'm the one taking you to school every day, young lady. Better treat me with respect." Matt glanced at her for a moment before turning his attention to the road again.

"You look absolutely fabulous." "Thanks, I was going for some kind of jet-setter look." The girl smiled. "Are you working on the school paper again today?"

He nodded. "You can join us if you want. You can make your homework while we work on the paper." Matt suggested.

"Who is us?" Rosanna asked curiously.

"You know Safiya?"

"I've heard about her, she came to our school last year, didn't she?"

"Yeah."

"I have some cookies, do you think she'll want some?" A smile appeared on Matt's face.

"I'm sure she will."

***

"Watch out, loser." A boy yelled as he bumped into Safiya. She swallowed and quickly walked to her locker.

_Ignore them, you're smarter than them anyway._

_But it still hurts._

"Shut up, man." Another one snapped. "Let her live her life."

"You're no fun." The boy complained.

"Atleast I don't bully other people." He fired back. Safiya flashed him a small smile. He arched his eyebrow for a moment. Safiya quickly looked away. She tried to find her phone, but she couldn't find it.

"Is this yours?" Safiya turned around, her gaze met a pair or brown eyes, she held up Safiya's phone.

"Yes.. Thank you." Safiya murmured and grabbed it, wondering how she got it.

"It was on the floor. I'm Rosanna, friends call me Ro." Safiya looked at her. Rosanna furrowed her eyebrows, waiting for a response.

"Oh- I'm Safiya, Saf for short." Safiya said quickly. Rosanna's eyes sparkled with recognition.

"You're that girl that works with Matt for the school paper!"

"Yes, I am, nice to meet you." Safiya smiled.

"Is it okay that I come join you two this afternoon?" She asked. "I won't bother you since I have to do my homework."

"Of course, I don't mind." Safiya replied. Rosanna pointed at her camera.

"Nice camera." The bell rang for the lesson. "I gotta run, see you!" And just like that, the girl dissapeared.

"Uh, okay..?"

***

"Hey Safiya." Matt put down his bag, Rosanna following him into the room. Safiya was focused on her laptop, rapidly typing, her camera was next to her.

"Hello?" Matt waved in front of Safiya's face. "Anyone there?" Safiya snapped out of her trance.

"Yes, sorry. I was focused."

"I noticed." Rosanna chuckled. Safiya looked up at the brunette, curiosity sparking in her eyes.

"This is Rosanna, by the way, she's basically my sister from another mister." Matt quickly explained. Safiya nodded and laughed softly.

"Yeah, we met this afternoon."

"Anyway, did you get some photos from the football training? And from theater?" Matt asked as soon the two settled down.

"Yes, you can look through them." Safiya handed him the camera, she also handed him some notes about a theory he was working on. "I figured you would like to know this."

"I'm still amazed with how good you are, you manage to suprise me every time." Matt murmured. "You are like this investigative reporter."

"You aren't so bad yourself, detective." Safiya smiled. Rosanna furrowed her eyebrow, watching the two. Someone called Matt. His face immediately went red. He put it on speaker. It was Stephanie.

"Can I ask you something, Matt?" Rosanna kicked him under the table. Matt quickly nodded and walked away.

"Would you like some cookies?" Rosanna asked after a few moments, offering the other girl a cookie. She took a small bite out of it.

"These are really good, did you make these?" Rosanna nodded and smiled. They talked for while. Suddenly Safiya got up.

"You know, I should be heading home." She said, packing up her stuff. She grabbed her camera and left, leaving a baffled Rosanna on her own.

***

_You are not making friends, that will only end up in nothing but pain._

She got a text from her father while she was working on her homework that he would be home late.

"Great," She murmured, she got up and walked to the fridge. "Guess I'll eat pizza, again." She sighed and put a pizza in the oven.

Safiya decided to quickly finish her homework and her pizza. She almost fell asleep on the couch. She jumped up when the door closed.

"I'm home." Someone said. Safiya relaxed.

"Hey dad, how was work?" She asked. Her dad sighed.

"The experiment is harder than we thought, apparently they've been working on it for months and they already ran tests on test subjects." He trailed off.

"And..?"

"They all died." Safiya's eyes widened. Her dad sighed again. "Anyway, how was school? Made any friends?" He prodded his daughter.

"I don't need friends."

"Everyone needs friends." The man retorted. Safiya rolled her eyes in response. "You should sleep." She nodded.

"Good night."

***

"You know what we should do?" Rosanna sat up. Matt looked up from his homework.

"No, tell me."

"We should invite Safiya for a sleepover, you know, just to get to know her better."

"I don't know if she's up to it." Matt doubted. "She's not the type for sleepovers, we haven't done one in years, though."

"Well, we randomly stay at eachothers house." Rosanna retorted. Matt laughed in response.

"That's true."

"Just ask her, or I'll do it, do you have her number?" Rosanna grabbed her phone.

"We don't text often, but I have it." Matt grabbed his phone as well, he gave her Safiya's number.

"Now we wait." Rosanna layed down again. "Because we're already on the subject of sleeping over.." Matt chuckled.

"Yeah, you can stay."

***

A week passed, Safiya was working on the school paper again. She didn't think Matt and Rosanna would come today. As soon as she thought that she heard Rosanna talk.

"Look at this," The duo came in. "Someone raided the graveyard." Rosanna said, handing Matt the newspaper. "Hey Saf." She sat down.

"Weird, who would raid on graves?" Matt asked.

"I don't know.."

"What's wrong?" Safiya furrowed her eyebrows. Rosanna handed her the newspaper.

**Graves raided?**

_ **In the past week there has been several reports of graves being opened.** _

_ **The graves mostly belong to former test subjects to a new experiment.** _

_ **For more information, turn to page 16.** _

"That's just weird." Safiya murmured, she shivered a bit. Rosanna nodded.

"I don't understand why you would do such a thing.." Rosanna kept talking. Safiya zoned out.

_The graves mostly belong to former test subjects._

She thought back to the conversation with her dad.

 _"A lot. The test subjects can die.. Or worse." He trailed off. "What's 'or worse'?_ _They come back as zombies?"_

Safiya froze.

_What if they did?_


	2. The Injection

***

Safiya almost started laughing.

_Zombies? Seriously? What are you, a child?_

She chuckled softly, but the thought didn't completely leave her mind.

"You know, I probably have to head home." Safiya said after a while. She immediately packed her stuff and walked away, ignoring Matt's protests.

***

Matt sighed. Rosanna looked up.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"She just won't let us in. She just ignores our tries to be friends with her."

"Give her time." Rosanna suggested.

"I gave her a year, Ro." Matt looked at her. Rosanna bit her lip.

"Then I don't know what you should do, I can talk to her, you know, girl talk." Matt frowned.

"I doubt that will work. I'll give her three more months, then I'll give up."

***

Rosanna looked on her phone, clicking on another song. Suddenly she heard someone yell. She pulled her earphones out of her ears.

Rosanna walked towards the sound, the yelling stopped and was replaced with someone crying and laughter. The girl ran into the restroom. She couldn't see who it was. Rosanna shot a look at the boys before slowly pushing the door open. Revealing Safiya, looking into the mirror and tears flowing down her cheeks. She didn't notice Rosanna.

"Your eyeliner will be ruined if you keep crying that way." Rosanna said softly. Safiya shrieked and jumped around, quickly wiping her tears away. She sniffed.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her voice sounded thick from the tears.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Rosanna asked.

"I'm fine, why do you ask?" The bell rang. Safiya quickly bolted towards the door, but Rosanna was quicker, kicking the door shut.

"You're not leaving before you tell me what's wrong." Rosanna crossed her arms. Safiya sighed when she realized she wasn't going to get out of this without confessing.

"They hate me, ever since I came to this school, they bullied me." She whispered softly. "I don't know what I did to deserve this." Rosanna hugged her. Tears rolled down Safiya's cheeks again.

"I'm sorry." She wiped her cheeks. Rosanna laughed softly.

"It's okay, come on. Fresh yourself up a bit and I'll walk you to class."

"I'm fine, go to your class." Safiya waved her away. Rosanna raised her eyebrow. Safiya looked at her for a brief moment before washing her face.

"Are you okay now?" Rosanna asked. Safiya nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." She took a deep breath. "Sorry for being a burden."

"You're not a burden, you just have to let people in sometimes. I won't hurt you, Matt won't either, I promise."

"I'll try.."

***

Safiya quickly pedaled home, rain was pouring down, unable to see anything. It was already turning dark, which was weird because the sun didn't even go down yet. She stayed with Rosanna and Matt longer than she realized. She thought if Rosanna's words.

_"You're not a burden, you just have to let people in sometimes."_

Safiya brushed a wet strand of hair out of her face, letting out a sigh.

"They might not want to hurt me but all I have is myself at the end of the day."

Suddenly she crashed into something, she let out a shriek as she hit the ground. A sharp pain going through her knee.

"Jesus christ! You have eyes!" Someone snapped, it was a boy. Safiya got up and squinted the rain out of her eyes.

"Well, I'm sorry but do I look like I can see with this rain?" Safiya fired back. She heard him sigh.

"Sorry, I'm Tyler, Tyler Williams." She recognized his voice.

"I'm Safiya Nygaard, you're the one who defended me." Safiya rubbed her eyes, she could see him more clearly now. "Thanks, but I'm going home." She turned around.

"Wait!" Tyler yelled. "Can I have your number?"

"I'm not interested in dating anyone, thank you." Tyler raised his eyebrow.

"We can just be friends, you know?" Safiya couldn't help but smile. She gave him her number and Tyler walked away. Safiya went home. She thought of Rosanna and Matt. She swallowed.

Safiya broke her one and only rule that she had.

No friends.

***

"I finally broke through Safiya's walls." Rosanna said satisfied, she crashed on Matt's bed.

"Ro-. Come on! You're soaking wet from the rain!" Matt exclaimed. Rosanna gasped and quickly jumped off his bed again.

"Sorry." Matt threw a towel at her head.

"Dry yourself off." He laughed. "Anyway-." He got cut off by his phone. A smile appeared on his face. Rosanna dried her hair and glared over his shoulder.

"Ooh... Stephanie?" Rosanna teased him. Matt groaned.

"We're just _talking_!" Suddenly Rosanna grabbed Matt's shoulders.

"She wants to come over!" The girl snatched Matt's phone out of his hand and quickly accepted the offer. Matt stared at Rosanna.

"Are you kidding me?" Rosanna shaked her head and dashed out of his room.

"Bye!"

***

"Hey dad?" Safiya started. "What did they do to the test subjects?" She dared to ask as soon as her dad came home. Her dad didn't answer, instead he grabbed something out of his bag and reached out for Safiya.

"D-dad?" He slammed a injection into her arm. Safiya let out a cry of pain as he injected it. It felt like her blood was on fire.

"Dad-. Help me!" Safiya begged as she fell to the ground, her legs unable to hold her weight anymore. She looked at her arm, her veins were turning green, the burning intensified. Safiya started crying of pain.

"Help me! _Please_!"

***

Safiya didn't come to school the next day. Rosanna was worried, she wasn't responding to her texts either. She paced through the classroom.

"What's wrong?" Justine asked. Rosanna stopped pacing.

"Well, Safiya didn't come to school today, and she hasn't responded to my texts either. Maybe it's my fault?" Rosanna wondered. "Where is Matt?"

"I don't know.." Justine looked at her friend, clearly worried for her. "Why don't you just sit down and relax. We can go to her house after Matt is done with interviewing me about the robots." Rosanna nodded, satisfied with the solution.

"Matt?" She yelled into the hallway of the school. Matt and Stephanie appeared, both looking flustered. Rosanna laughed softly as they said their byes, she shaked her head.

_Those are definitely in love._

"Oh? You're finally ready?" Rosanna teased him. Matt sighed.

"Yes." He mumbled.

"You let Justine wait." She remarked, giggling.

***

"Are you sure this is Safiya's house?" Justine asked, she looked doubtful. Rosanna looked at the adress again and nodded.

"Yes, this is supposed to be it." They walked towards the door and knocked. Safiya opened the door, she looked horrible.

Her hair was messed up, she had mascara streaks down her cheeks and most of all, her arm looked.. _Green_?

"Are you okay?" Justine asked before Rosanna could say something. Safiya narrowed her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She asked hoarsely. She noticed Rosanna was looking at her arm, she quickly hid it behind her back.

"Well, you didn't come to school today and you weren't responding to my texts so.. I was worried." Rosanna said softly.

"Why?" Safiya asked. Rosanna was a bit taken aback.

"W-well, you're my friend." She managed to get out eventually. A small smile crept on Safiya's face.

"I never had someone else that worried about me beside my parents." Safiya whispered, in all of a sudden she hugged the petite brunette. Safiya quickly pulled away. She flinched of pain. "Sorry, I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable." She almost fell, she quickly grabbed the doorway for support.

"It's okay." Rosanna smiled. "We'll let you get better, come on Justine." Justine nodded and the duo walked away.

***

_"Dad-. Help me!" Safiya begged as she fell to the ground, her legs unable to hold her weight anymore. She looked at her arm, her veins were turning green, the burning intensified. Safiya started crying of pain._

_"Help me! Please!"_

_He just looked at her, not helping her at all._

_"My blood is on fire!"_

Safiya glared at her father, she still couldn't believe that he didn't help her.

"It's a medicine." He tried to explain for the tenth time.

"For what?!" Safiya snapped. "How could a medicine feel like your blood is on _fire_?"

"I can't tell you yet." Her dad whispered. "But it'll make sense in a few months."

"In a few months? I want an explanation, now!"

"Not yet."

"I-. I can't believe you." Safiya looked at her arm, three tiny holes in it. Suddenly the front door opened.

"I'm home!" Safiya stared at her mother in the doorway.

"Mom!" She burst out in tears as she fell into her mother's arm. "I'm so glad you're back!" She held out her arm. Her mother looked at it.

"What happened?"

"You should ask _him_ that, he's the one who did it, and did nothing to help me, he just let me _suffer_."

"You did it? Why did you do it?!" Her mother asked.

"Safiya, go upstairs." Her father ordered. Safiya shot a look at her parents before going upstairs.

***


	3. One Last Party

***

Tyler walked towards Safiya, she was standing at her locker, her camera dangling from her shoulder.

"Hello there." Safiya jumped up and stared at him. She threw her book in her locker and quickly pulled her sweater over her arm.

"Holy- Sorry! I didn't see you." Tyler chuckled.

"I noticed, anyway, do you want to hang out tonight?" She hesitated.

"I'm afraid that I have to turn down the offer." She said softly. Tyler frowned and reached out, wiping a bit of lipstick off her cupids bow. Tyler smiled when a blush crept on her cheeks.

"See you around, Nygaard." He turned around and walked away.

"Tyler, wait!" She quickly catched up to him. "I'd love to hang out with you."

***

"Got a date?" Rosanna bounded over to Safiya. Apparently she witnessed the whole event. She leaned against the lockers.

"No," Safiya muttered. "I don't go on dates." She put her camera in her locker.

"I'm pretty sure he just asked you on a date." Rosanna shrugged. "He is cute, though. However, I think I like Mike more." Safiya slammed her locker shut. Rosanna raised her eyebrow.

"It's not a date." Safiya said with a low voice. Rosanna's expression changed.

"I was joking, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay, sorry for reacting so weirdly." Safiya apologized. "It's just.."

"It's just what?" Rosanna asked. Safiya got saved by the bell. She let out a small sigh of relief.

"I have to run, tell Mike you like him!"

***

"Tell Mike you like him!" Rosanna shook her head, watching the raven-haired girl leave.

"You like me, huh?" Rosanna heard from behind her. She froze and spinned around. Her eyes meeting her classmates' gaze. His eyes twinkled with amusement.

"M-Mike," Rosanna stuttered, not knowing what to say. "I- I really have to go." She turned around and quickly walked away, shame washing over her.

_Darn you, Safiya._

***

"Okay, come with me." Tyler grabbed her arm. Safiya hissed and pulled her arm free. Tyler furrowed his eyebrows.

"Sorry, I burned it today." Safiya lied, she rubbed her neck. Tyler's glanced at her with a worried look.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Safiya smiled and nodded. "Anyway, come with me." They grabbed their jackets.

"Where are we going?" Safiya asked curiously as they walked through the streets. Tyler grinned.

"You'll see." Safiya huffed.

"You're no fun." She mumbled. "This is taking quite long though." She raised her eyebrow.

"Impatient, Nygaard?"

"Of course I'm impatient, _Williams_." She fired back. Tyler laughed softly, he led her to a small valley.

"Well, you can stop complaining, because we're here." Tyler said smugly. Safiya rolled her eyes.

"What do we do?" Tyler pushed her on the cold grass.

"Hey!" She protested, but Tyler silenced her.

"We look at the stars, idiot."

Safiya couldn't help but smile. "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

"Atleast I'm not the only one." He answered. "You turned me down but then changed your mind."

Safiya giggled. They talked for a while. Safiya enjoyed his company, maybe a little _too_ much, if you asked her, but she didn't care.

"Come on." Tyler got up and helped the girl up as well.

"Where are we going now?"

"Do you want some fast food?" Safiya burst out in laughter and eventually nodded.

***

"This is certainly a first, I'm still pissed that you didn't want me to pay." Safiya mumbled, laughing softly. "What's a thing you would like to do?" She took a sip from her milkshake. Tyler thought for a moment.

"I would like to save the world, I don't know why."

"Pfft," Safiya laughed, "High expectations."

"You think I can't save the world?" Tyler raised his eyebrow. Safiya's heart fluttered. He prodded her when she didn't answer.

"Not answering that," Safiya said stubbornly. Tyler prodded her side again."Okay, fine! You probably could." She gave in. Tyler smiled triumphantly.

"I knew it! You know I'm a strong man!" Safiya giggled.

"Sure, Williams, keep dreaming, maybe you'll get somewhere."

"Wow, that's rude," Tyler protested.

"I am rude."

"I highly doubt that."

***

"I had a great time tonight," Safiya remarked shyly. Tyler smiled.

"Me too." For a moment Safiya thought Tyler was going to lean in and kiss her, but he didn't. "I'll see you around, Nygaard." And with that, he walked away. Safiya felt her cheeks burn, a smile creeping on her face. It quickly faded.

_Why are you doing this? It will end in pain._

Safiya bit her lip and walked inside, heading straight to bed.

***

Safiya was lying in bed, listening to her parents fight. This was their second fight since her mother came home.

"Why would you do that?!" Her mother screamed.

"I'm just trying to keep her safe!" Her father yelled back.

"You don't know how dangerous that injection can be if wrongly used!"

"I do know! I tested it hundreds of times! And everytime it went wrong, I perfected it! It's completely safe now! We have more! Once it breaks out, everyone that's important can be protected!"

"You think they will give the people that?!" Her mothers voice was filled with disbelief.

"The people who are important to the government and who can keep or get us out of the upcoming mess, yes!"

Safiya slowly got up and walked downstairs. She listened at the door.

"I just want my daughter to be safe!" Her dad shouted.

"I know that, but why didn't you discuss it with me first?! We're talking about Safiya's _life_!"

Safiya froze and looked at her arm, the green color was slowly turning back to her skin color. It still hurted.

"I can _die_ from this?" She whispered to herself, her heart pounding.

"She won't die from this! For gods sake, I'm just making sure she lives! It worked for-" Safiya's mother cut him off.

"She's already taken that medication because you wanted her to!"

"It's keeping her safe in case-." Safiya dashed upstairs, unable to hear their fight anymore. She reached for her phone. Her finger hovered above Rosanna's contact.

Safiya sighed and put her earbuds in her ear, putting on music. She leaned back onto her pillow.

_Why do they want to keep me safe?_

_And why are those medications helping with that?_

_Why am I taking them in the first place?_

Safiya tried to recall the doctors appointment, only to realise she never had one. Her dad just gave her the bottle one day.

She turned up the volume and closed her eyes.

***

"What did you do last night?" Rosanna asked. Safiya didn't answer, she made a picture. Rosanna tagged along with her, it was interesting, seeing Safiya work with her camera.

"Nothing much."

"Did you kiss?"

"No."

"Did something bad happen?"

"No." Safiya repeated, she looked at her for a moment, Rosanna realized she was on the verge of tears. Her eyes widened, hugging her.

"What's wrong?" Rosanna asked, she took Safiya to the side.

"My- My parents had a huge fight about me last night." Safiya said. "And I.." She rolled up her sleeve, revealing three small holes in her arm, a weird green hue around it. Rosanna gasped.

"It is fading back to my skin color, but my dad just grabbed my arm and injected it few days ago." Safiya mumbled.

"Does it hurt?" Rosanna looked up at Safiya, she nodded.

"When my dad injected it, it felt like my blood was on fire, but now the pain is slowly go away." Rosanna opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. "I- I don't know what to say." Safiya sighed.

"I also have to take medication, but I don't know for what.. I just don't want them to fight about me. It makes me feel guilty."

"But you haven't done anything!" Rosanna exclaimed. Safiya bit her lip.

"I know," She paused. "I just want to get my mind of this." Rosanna thought for a moment.

"Isn't Nikita throwing a party tonight for the whole school?" She asked, "We could go there if you want." Safiya hesitated, but eventually gave in.

"Why not?"

"Great!" the brunette squealed. Safiya flashed her a small smile. "You know, I never asked you if you had siblings."

Safiya flinched. Rosanna furrowed her brows, wondering what she did wrong.

"I had a brother, he dissapeared, never found his body but quickly declared dead after that." Rosanna covered her mouth.

"Safiya, I'm so sorry," Rosanna whispered.

"It's fine," Safiya sighed. "You're okay." Rosanna hugged her. Safiya cleared her throat.

"Anyway, why don't we asked Matt to come with us?"

***

Safiya looked at the huge house, feeling a bit uneasy. She sighed

She agreed to sleep over at Matt's house together with Rosanna, but she was regretting it already. Her heart sank when she saw Tyler as well. She had been avoiding him, she didn't really know, but it seemed like the safest option for some reason.

"Come on!" Rosanna bounded over to the entry. Matt and Safiya followed more slowly. They hung around a bit.

Rosanna walked away to get drinks. Safiya overheard someone.

"Dude, listen, so I went into my backyard yesterday, yeah? And I randomly fell into a hole, like who would dig a hole in my backyard?"

Safiya snorted softly. Rosanna came back, she gave them their drinks.

"Mike's here too." Matt nudged Rosanna. Her face immediately flushed red, resulting laughter from Safiya and Matt.

"I talked to him when Safiya got asked on a date by Tyler, after she basically _yelled_ through the whole school that I liked him, so I really don't want to see him."

"You went on a date?" Matt turned to Safiya.

"It wasn't a date!" she protested. Tyler appeared in front of them, he met Safiya's gaze, but she looked away.

"They are playing spin the bottle, want to join?" Matt and Rosanna shrugged and nodded. They looked at Safiya, waiting for her response. She sighed.

"Fine."

***

Safiya spinned the bottle. It landed between Tyler and Rosanna. Safiya leaned in for Tyler, but changed last moment to Rosanna, pressing her lips against hers.

The petite brunette let out a suprised squeal, causing the others to laugh. Safiya pulled away with a grin.

"Don't suprise me like that!" Rosanna exclaimed.

"I wanted to keep the element of suprise."

"Well, you certainly suprised me!" Rosanna laughed. Safiya made eye contact with Tyler, a smirk creeping on her face. Tyler raised his eyebrow.

"Thought I was going to kiss you, Williams? Well, that's too bad. You're going to have to get in line," Safiya said softly.

Tyler chuckled softly, he leaned forward and whispered something in her ear,

"I'll wait forever to kiss you," Tyler grinned when a blush crept on Safiya's cheeks, giving away that she didn't expect that answer. She stared at him, speechless. "What, Nygaard? A cat got your tongue?"

"I hate you," Safiya mumbled eventually. Tyler chuckled.

"Your cheeks say otherwise."

***

Safiya slowly woke up, she was at Matt's house. She looked over at Rosanna, still asleep. Safiya closed her eyes again, hoping to get a bit more sleep before the others woke up.

Suddenly a loud siren rang through the town. Safiya shot up. She stumbled out of bed and shook Rosanna awake. The petite brunette sat up, her gaze meeting Safiya's. Her eyes widened when she heard the siren. The two stared at eachother for a moment before running towards Matt room. He ran out of the room as well, a shocked expression on his face.

"Turn on the tv!" he yelled. The trio stormed downstairs and turned on the tv. The screen lit up the dark room.

A woman was on the tv, a bewildered look in her eyes.

" _This is your emergency broadcast system. The day that people feared for a long time, has become reality_ ," the woman said, " _A failed experiment led to-_." They heard soft growling. Safiya's heart sank.

_A failed experiment.._

Rosanna reached for their hands, hearts racing as they stared at the screen in the dark room.

" _They are coming, the zombies are coming,"_ the news reporter managed to say before the cameras were cut off while hearing screams and growling outside. Safiya slowly walked to the window, looking outside.

"This is it, the Apocalypse."

***


	4. Chapter 4

***

Rosanna looked into the street, she covered her mouth. A few zombies were limping through the streets, growling and hissing.

"Matt, do you have any guns?" Safiya asked. His mouth dropped.

" _Guns_? Who do you think we are? Serial killers?" Matt paced through the room.

"We have to get guns, and practice to shoot with them."

"Of all days, why did my parents decide to go away tonight?" Matt muttered. Safiya walked to the door.

"Are we going _outside_?" Rosanna asked, baffled. Safiya shaked her head.

"No, we have to call our family."

The trio ran upstairs to grab their phones. Rosanna was the first to talk to someone.

"Mom? Yes, I'm safe," Rosanna said shakily. "The zombies are roaming the streets here too. I can't believe it either.. Are you, dad and Molly save?" She asked. "I have to stay here? But.."

"Dad? What is happening? Why didn't you tell me that the experiment failed?" Safiya demanded. "You could've died!"

Matt came into the room, his face was pale.

"They won't pick up the phone." He said in a shaky voice. "They don't answer my calls."

"They'll be fine.." Safiya said, though concern and doubt rang through her voice. They called them for a few more tries before one of them finally called back.

"Matt? Stay inside!" Matt's mother yelled hysterically, the growling and hissing became louder.

***

Safiya got called again.

"Tyler?" she asked in suprise.

"Safiya! Are you okay? Are you safe?" Tyler asked her, clearly worried.

"I'm fine, apart from the fact that _zombies_ are roaming the streets and-," Safiya got cut off by a blood-curdling scream, she shivered. "-and _terrorizing_ everyone," she finished her sentence.

"I'll be okay," Tyler said. Safiya bit her lip. "Just stay safe, okay? I don't want you to get hurt," she admitted.

"As long you do the same, I'm not there to save your ass." Safiya snorted.

"You know I can't make any promises, Williams." Tyler scoffed.

"Stay safe, Nygaard, don't die, I'll hopefully see you soon." He hung up the phone. Safiya turned around.

"Your boyfriend?" Rosanna asked. Safiya shaked her head. Rosanna looked up and saw that she was blushing.

_So soon to be boyfriend?_

"Mom? Mom!" Matt yelled at his phone. They heard a scream from the other side, followed by beeping. He dropped his phone. "My parents.." Rosanna hugged him. "They are dying, Ro."

They heard something loud, but they weren't able to figure out what it was.

"We should go downstairs and turn on the tv, in case the government has more information." Safiya broke the silence.

***

"Oh my gosh!" Rosanna exclaimed as they heard gunshots through the neighborhood, she ran to the window. Safiya walked towards the window and followed her gaze. More and more zombies limped into the streets, covered in blood and huge wounds. There were a lot of people outside.

There were people with guns, approaching them and shooting them. Safiya's heart sank when she saw a few doors opened to the houses and windows shattered, zombies stumbling inside.

"We are going to die." Matt was pacing back and forth in the living room. Safiya whirled around to look at him.

"We aren't going to die if you stop whining," she snapped. "We are sitting this out, then we'll venture out and look for our parents." Safiya ignored the scared squeal from Rosanna.

"We have to go out and go home eventually."

***

Matt tried to turn the tv on again. It eventually turned on. Screams filled the air. Rosanna covered her ears, trying to block out the screams. Matt sighed and looked at the ground, still trying to process what happened.

People were attacked by zombies, bitten, killed, brutally ripped apart. Blood was everywhere. Safiya shivered and was glad when the videos cut to the news reporter. The shooting outside slowly stopped.

" _Inhuman creatures are everywhere. They've risen from their graves, they are coming back with a vengeance_ ," the man said. Safiya scoffed.

" _Once you're bitten, there's no turning back, then you're one of the infected and you have to be executed immediately_ ," he continued. " _It's just a matter of time before everyone is infected, the scientists are busy working on a cure_."

"I doubt they can make one." Matt muttered. "They're the one who failed the experiment in the first place." Safiya let out a growl and grabbed her phone. She called her dad.

"Where are you?" Safiya hissed. "I demand an explanation, like, why you didn't tell me that people were _rising_ up from the dead, _escaping_ their _graves_ , endangering _millions_ of lives?!"

"Saf, you are going to be fine, have you taken your medicine?" her father answered.

"We are about to die, and you worry about my medicines?!"

"As long as you take your medicine, nothing will happen to you," he said calmly.

"I'm at Matt's house, so no, I haven't been taking them!"

"Safiya, calm down, once this has calmed down, you can go out and get your medicine."

"Can't you pick us up? You have a car. Wait, where are you and mom?"

"We are at mom's lab-" Safiya cut him off, furious.

"You left me _alone_?!" Disbelief and hurt rang through her voice. "You left me alone during an _apocalypse_?! Where I could _die_?!"

"Safiya," her mom butted in. "Go into the backyard and into the bunker. You'll find food and water. You will be safe."

"Mom, you two _left_ me, you are like, six hours away!"

"Get your medicine. We'll call you in an hour or two. You'll live, Safiya. Just trust me, you just need to finish the bottle," her mother ordered.

"You can't just abandon your child!" But her mother wasn't on the call anymore. "I can't believe them. They don't even care about _me_!" Safiya shouted. "They left us alone to die!" Rosanna put her hand on her arm.

"Take a deep breath, Saf, calm down," the petite brunette said softly. "We're not going to die."

Matt froze when he heard close growling, _really_ close, followed by slamming on glass. He opened the curtains again and screamed. A zombie was right outside the window, slamming on the window.

"Guys? We may have a problem." Suddenly the window cracked. "A huge problem!" Matt closed the curtains and dashed away from the window. The trio ran out of the living room, throwing the door shut.

"Should we leave?" Rosanna asked. Safiya opened the front door a bit.

"It seems safe, apart from the zombie at the window. We can outrun them." Matt jumped when they heard the window shatter.

"Grab some food from the basement!" he yelled back. Rosanna grabbed his backpack and stormed down to the basement. They heard growling from inside the house. Matt and Safiya threw themselves against the door.

Rosanna came back, carrying the bag and two baseball bats.

"Oh my god, Ro. You're a genius," Safiya exclaimed.

"I forgot we had those," Matt muttered beneath his breath.

"Do you want these?" Rosanna gave them the bats. "I'll try and outrun them."

"Where are we going?" Matt asked, hopping nervously from one leg to another.

"Which house is the closest?" Safiya frowned, trying to remember the time that it would take to come to her house.

"My parents are home." Rosanna squeaked.

"Let's head to your house then."

***

Suddenly the door swinged open. A zombie appeared behind Safiya. The girl shrieked and slammed the bat at its head. The zombie stumbled back and fell, green blood gushing out its head. Safiya opened the front door and pushed the others outside.

"Not today, Satan," she muttered. They started to run. A soldier held them back.

"Are you out of your damn minds?!" he asked. "Get back inside!"

"We can't-" Rosanna got cut off by a shriek. A zombie had approached him from behind and bit the soldier, leaving a huge bite on his shoulder. Hearing hissing behind them, the trio whirled around, only to find out they were surrounded.

"Help!" Matt called out, but no one dared to help them. Safiya spinned around, trying to find a way out. She opened Rosanna's backpack and grabbed a waterbottle, she threw it over their heads. A few turned around and walked towards it.

"Go!" Rosanna yelled. They dashed away, in the different direction of her house.

"Screw that, we're going to my house," Safiya said through clenched teeth. The others agreed.

***

They safely reached Safiya's house, but not without having to beat up two zombies on their way to there.

_"Matt! Saf!" Rosanna cried out._

_Rosanna was circled by two zombies that came out of nowhere. Safiya immediately jumped into battle, kicking and beating the zombie. Matt slammed his bat on the other zombie. They fell to the ground. Matt and Safiya shared worried looks._

They passed a burning house. A few people ran away from it.

"Ro, there's no time to look around!" Safiya snapped when Rosanna stayed behind to look at the burning house and at the people. Rosanna caught up to them with a small sprint.

"Sorry," she puffed.

Safiya opened the door as fast as she could and let the others inside. A zombie approached them. She shut the door and locked it again.

They stood in the hallway for a few minutes, catching their breath. Rosanna took a big gulp for air.

"Dang," she said, "I never ran that fast for that long." Matt wiped away a few tears, he was probably thinking about his parents.

"Tell me about your experience," Safiya puffed, wiping a bit of sweat off her forehead.

"Zero stars on Yelp," Rosanna remarked. Safiya gave them a glass of water. Safiya reached for her medicine. She hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked. Safiya sighed.

"They make me slow, I can't react that fast when I take these," Safiya mumbled.

"According to your parents, you need them," Matt frowned. Safiya gnawed her lip and forced them down. They sat down at the table, exhausted.

Matt was frantically texting and calling his parents, trying to get in contact with them, even though it was probably a lost cause.

Sunlight crept through the windows. Safiya trailed her fingers over her camera, not saying anything for a while.

Suddenly a voice rang through the neighborhood. The trio looked up.

" _The country is currently going on lockdown, stay inside and avoid contact with people_."

There was a pause. The trio cast concerned glances at eachother.

" _I repeat, the country is currently going on lockdown_."

***


	5. Call From An Old Friend

***

"L-lockdown?" Rosanna asked shakily. Matt rested his head in his hands, unable to speak. Safiya let out a sigh.

"Lockdown," Safiya confirmed, she took a deep breath. No one could flee the country, everyone had to stay, with flesh eating zombies. Their phones started ringing. They all reached for their phones and accepted the calls.

"Are you still at Matt's house?" Rosanna's mother asked hysterically.

"No Mom, a zombie broke into Matt's house, we're at Safiya's house right now," Rosanna sighed.

"You should've went to our house!" her mother exclaimed, clearly worried sick. No one blamed her. Rosanna quickly started explaining.

"I know, that was the plan, but we got circled by zombies and more approached from the direction we were supposed to go, so we went to Safiya's house," she mumbled, "I'll come as fast I can, once it's safer."

"Steph?" Matt said, sadness lingered his voice.

"Matt, are you okay?" Stephanie asked.

"Not really," he whispered. "I don't know if my parents are alive. What if they are out somewhere and hurting? What if they aren't dead but in horrible pain?"

"I don't know, Matt. I'm sorry, if I only knew, are you alone or are you with friends?" Stephanie murmured. Safiya was the opposite of Matt when her parents called, she was furious.

"Okay, so you think it's a good idea to call your _abandoned_ child?" Safiya spat. "I'm not sure I wanted you to do-"

"Safiya, it's me." Safiya's jaw dropped, her heart stopped for a moment. Her breath caught in her throat of shock.

" _Adil_?"

***

_Safiya came downstairs. She frowned when she only saw her father. Putting her hand on her father's shoulder, he turned around._

_"Hey Saf, ready for school?" he asked. Safiya waved the question away, only interested in where the rest of her family was._

_"Where's mom and Adil?"_

_"Mom left for work, I don't know where your brother is. I think he left for school already," her dad said, clearly not worried._

_"Already? It's-" Safiya noticed that his eyes were glistening with fear. Safiya took a second look at him. He looked bewildered. "Dad, is everything alright?"_

_"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be? Everything's perfectly fine," he rambled. The girl took a step back, her brows furrowing._

_"You're rambling."_

_"I know, I'm just nervous," he paused. "For a new experiment I'm going to work on." Safiya walked towards the kitchen, pouring cereal into a bowl._

_"What experiment?" Her father didn't answer. Safiya stopped with what she was doing. "Dad?"_

_"Honey, I really need to go, see you tonight," her dad pressed a kiss on her temple and quickly left the house._

_But few days passed, no sign of her brother. Safiya was worried sick. He wouldn't pick up his phone whatsoever. The police was already searching for him._

_They gave up after a few months, declaring him dead._

_Safiua came home after a horrible day at school, her attention focused on her phone_ _, she was still frantically emailing people to see if they saw Adil._

 _She immediately asked the usual question, "did they find him?" Safiya_ _shook off_ _her bag in the hallway and walked towards the kitchen. Her parents were sitting at the table._

 _"They declared him dead, he's never coming back. I'm sorry," her mother whispered. Safiya dropped her phone. Hearing her screen crack, she clamped her hand over her mout_ _h, tears_ _streaming down as waterfalls._ _She felt her heart shatter into a thousand pieces._

_Her brother would never come back._

_And so they buried an empty casket, leaving the Nygaard's heartbroken._

_Well, Safiya, atleast._

_***_

_"Hey lil bro, how are you doing?" Safiya asked, it was six months later. She often came to his grave. "We're moving soon," she smiled sadly. "You know the reasons, it all became too much, Mom and Dad noticed."_

_Sighing, she sat down in front of the gravestone. "I won't be able to visit you anymore, atleast, not this often," she paused, "not that you notice, anyway." Safiya flinched_ _, all the pain coming back again_ _._

_"I miss you, Adil."_

_***_

"Adil, you're alive, but.. How? You were declared dead, we couldn't find you!" sounded Safiya's suprise voice. Adil didn't blame her, how would he react if Safiya dissapeared and appeared after almost three years? Probably the same, but that's not important.

"I'm alive," Adil looked around, scared that he would be seen, he had to be quick. "Look, I don't have much time, if they find out I'm missing, they'll do something to me if they find out I talked to you, some pretend that their sweet, but they're ruthless." He shivered, remembering how some scientists handled the test subject at times.

"Who's 'they'?" He could tell Safiya was confused.

"The scientists who started this damn experiment," said Adil.

"That's dishes," Safiya blurted out. Adil couldn't help but laugh. The old dishes rule, if they cursed, they had to do the dishes, which no one wanted to do, to be honest. So they avoided any slurs at all costs.

"Fine, I'll do the damn-" he paused. "I'll do the dishes. Anyways, that's not important right now. I've seen the test subjects and I know the symptoms."

Adil heard movement on the other side. He waited for a few moments, assuming she was grabbing something to write on. He chewed his lip, letting out a sigh of relief when he finally heared Safiya's voice again.

"Spit it out," she said, still sounding a bit overwhelmed. Adil took a deep breath and started talking.

"The first symptom is that you get a pale face and the color from your lips fade," he explained, still looking around. Safiya mumbled something.

"And?" she asked eventually.

"People will get restless and hallucinations," Adil shivered, remembering the horrible scenes he saw when people got hallucinations. "The hallucinations turn people aggressive, very aggressive. They go insane, starting to do stuff to themselves."

"Is there more?"

"Their blood will turn some kind of green color and then.. you turn, I saw the turning a few times, it most certainly wasn't fun."

"How long does it take? A few hours? A few days?" asked Safiya, worry and fear edged her voice.

"It depends on the person, really. It can go up from a few hours to two weeks." Adil realized he was shaking, he cleared his throat and shook his shoulders. Safiya let out a small sigh.

"How do you know all of this?"

"Not all of them died, some of them turned into zombies over time, and the ones that _were_ dead, they dug their way from their graves, breaking their caskets and somehow managed to come up," Adil explained. He sighed. "Mom and Dad aren't the people you think they are, they locked me up and used me as a test subject too, their own _son_." Safiya gasped loudly.

"Did you leave for that reason? Without saying anything?" Safiya wondered, the tone in her voice almost sounding accusing.

"Leave? _Leave_?! I was _taken_ against my will, one moment I was in my bed and the next I was in the car with someone I didn't even know, driving off to God knew where," Adil snapped. His tone softened. "I tried to escape, I really did, but I couldn't. They used me as a test subject for this mess too, they may have stopped testing me, I'll never forgive our parents for the pain they put me through."

"So, you're turning..?" Safiya's voice lingered with worry.

"No, I'm not," Adil said slowly. "They injected me with TC-10 two times last year, I won't be suprised if Mom or Dad injected you as well, I overheard a scientist telling another scientist that Mom took home an injection once."

"Wait, slow down. TC-10?" Safiya asked, confused.

"The injection that started this mess."

"What did it feel like?"

"The first injection they gave me terrible pain, I absolutely hated it. My skin burned all over my body and it felt like I was filled with spikes. After that, I received a different one, making me feel like I was on fire again, my arm was green for a _week_ , a few weeks later, my veins turned black for about five days, not gonna lie, but I thought I was going to die." Adil stopped to catch his breath.

Safiya was quiet for a few moments, she gasped. "Did you have to take-" Safiya started. Adil cut her off, hearing a door open, somewhere very close to him.

"Safiya, I have to go, they're here. I love you."

***

"Adil, wait, how did you-" He hung up the phone. "Get to the phone..." Safiya finished her sentence.

"What's wrong?" Rosanna asked worriedly. She frowned, questioning who was on the phone. "Who's Adil?" Safiya shoved the notepad towards her, Rosanna grabbed it and read it.

"What's this?" Matt looked over her shoulder, he quickly scanned the notepad. "Pale face, colorless lips, restless, hallucinations, aggression, green blood, turning, up to a few hours to a week?"

"The symptoms, when you turn into a zombie, I quickly scribbled it down. The person who called me, that was my brother," Safiya explained. Rosanna's jaw dropped.

"Wait, what? I thought you said he was dead." There was a hint of accusation in her voice. It made Safiya feel bad, she didn't want them to feel she'd lied to them.

"I didn't lie," she said quickly. "I thought he was dead too, but turns out my so-called parents took him as a test subject," Safiya spat out the last few words. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Anyways, the thing is that-"

Suddenly they heard a woman scream outside. She was outside the window, slamming on the window and begging to help her, she left a bloody hand print behind. Zombies circled the lady in front of them.

Safiya saw where the blood was coming from, there was a finger missing from her hand. She felt the urge to vomit come up, she quickly forced it down. Rosanna couldn't, she threw up in the sink before turning back again, unable to tear her eyes away from the horrible scene.

The trio watched in terror as the woman was being eaten alive, letting out terrible screams. Rosanna's hand was clamped over her mouth, a tear rolling down her cheek. Safiya had her ears covered, trying to block out the noise, eyes closed. After what seemed like hours, the screams slowly ceased. Safiya didn't dare to look at the woman, well... what was left of her.

Matt gasped and pushed Rosanna down to the floor. The petite brunette let out a yelp of suprise, but stayed on the floor, unsure what to do.

"Get down!" Matt hissed. Understanding why, Safiya ducked as the zombies got up again. They could hear low growling and scratching on the window. The trio crept towards the window, hoping the zombies would look _into_ the room and not down, they would be screwed either way. Safiya scoffed. Rosanna and Matt looked at her. The girl shaked her head in disbelief as they heard the zombies stomp away, wondering if it could smell them.

"You really don't want to mess around with these," she said. Rosanna gnawed on her lip. Matt let out a soft sigh. His heart thumping with fear.

"We absolutely have no interest in doing that," Matt remarked, voice slightly cracking.

***

Adil lowered the phone, his body shaking. He took a deep breath. He helped his sister the best he could, there was nothing he could do anymore, she was on her own now.

"Mr. Nygaard? Why are you in here?" Adil quickly put the phone back from where he got it. He turned around and faced a woman, he recognised her, she tested him a few times, he didn't know her name though. The familiar feeling of fear and anger came back. Adil sighed, pushing the feelings away, they didn't care anyway.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I'll go back... I know I shouldn't have left. Should I go to the test rooms immediately?" The woman shaked her head. Adil arched his eyebrows.

 _No punishment? That's certainly a new one,_ he thought scornfully. _They never let you go back without any form of punishment._

"You don't have too, we are evacuating everyone, we are going to the bunkers." Adil stared at her. She turned around to walk away.

"Wait, what?" Adil asked confused. The scientist faced him again, raising her eyebrow.

"They are going to drop bombs, to get rid of the zombies," the woman said slowly, like he couldn't understand English. Adil whitened.

 _What about Safiya? What about all those people?_ _They'll kill them all if they don't get to a bunker in time!_

"No... What about all those people? All those innocent lives will be lost!" The woman didn't say anything for a moment, like she was picking her words very carefully.

"We will save further generations. Mr. Nygaard, it'll be worth it. But if we want to make it to the bunkers, we really have to leave." She grabbed his arm, pulling him with her.

The two went to the bunker. Adil looked around, looking for his parents, he wanted answers. His father was nowhere to be seen, but he did saw his mother. He pushed his way through the people, scientists with their families and just people from the city.

"Mom? Is this really happening?" asked Adil, unsure if the government really was going to bomb the country. His mom nodded stiffly. "What?! What about Safiya? Your own _daughter_? She's out there because you left her!"

His mother faced him, sadness clouding her eyes. It was the first time in a long time that he saw his mother this sad.

"Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to save others," she whispered. Adil resisted the urge to hug her, she practically betrayed him, after all.

"Just so you know, I don't think Safiya will forgive you for what you've done." His mother took a deep breath before speaking, Adil noticed she was on the verge of tears.

"I know, and I'll have to live with that, knowing that my daughter will hate me, if she survives."

Adil flinched.

_If she survives. I'm not sure she will._

"Safiya is stubborn enough, she'll survive," Adil insisted, pushing the thought away. His mother scoffed, wiping her tears away.

"Maybe you're right." She shifted foward to hug him, but Adil pushed her away.

"I'm talking to you because I love Safiya and care about her, not because I want to talk to you. You ruined that when you forced me to become a test subject." Adil turned around and stormed away.

***

Tyler heaved through the trees with his family, they were all carrying backpacks with food, water and clothes. He wiped a bit of sweat of his forehead, someone accidentally stepped on a twig. Everyone whipped around, ready to run away.

"Sorry," his mother apologized. "It was me, it won't happen again."

They continued walking again. Tyler's dad insisted that they would be safe in the woods, but Tyler doubted it. The zombies were everywhere, even when you thought you were save, they would randomly appear.

Tyler was worried for his family, friends and strangely, Safiya, the girl had sparked something inside of him which he had never felt before.

"We aren't safe here, dad," said Tyler.

"Absolutely not," Tyler's older sister, Stefanie muttered. The twenty-year old woman came over for a visit, but then the Apocalyps started, which meant she was stuck with them.

"I know," their mom answered. "Where are we going again?" she asked.

"We are going to a bunker," their dad explained. "We'll be safe there." Tyler furrowed his brows.

"Are you sure?" asked Tyler, still clearly doubting it. His dad didn't answer, instead he walked faster.

Suddenly they heard an explosion.

"What is happening?" Stefanie asked, eyes widening, her heart pounding. Tyler and her shared shocked glances. Their dad turned around for a brief moment.

"Run."

***

The trio got up, a siren ringing through the town, yet again. Matt immediately went into survival mode.

"Do you have a bunker here?" Matt turned to Safiya, expecting denial but the girl nodded and gestured them to follow her. They quickly grabbed their stuff and ran into the backyard. Safiya opened the hatch and basically pushed them inside.*

Safiya heard growling and dragging footsteps nearby. "Hell no." She jumped inside and closed the hatch again, locking it.

"Can you please turn on the light?" Rosanna mumbled, feeling scared without being able to see. Safiya turned on the small light. She sighed of relief.

"Wow," Safiya blurted, usually the bunker was used for gardening supplies. But now there was food, water and even two beds. "Not gonna lie, I didn't know that my parents changed all of this." Safiya pulled out her phone. Matt looked around, scanning the small shelf with food and water.

"For how long do you think we can survive of this?" he asked. Safiya didn't answer, she was focused on her phone.

"I'm worried about Tyler, I didn't hear from him in a few," Safiya said, she groaned when she saw Rosanna grinning. "This isn't the most ideal situation to play matchmaker, Rosanna. I'm worried about him because I care for him, nothing else."

"You took your camera?" Matt looked up in suprise when he saw Safiya's camera dangling from her shoulder.

"Yes, it was from my brother, therefore it means a lot to me," she muttered stiffly. They sat down on the beds. "I think we can live in this for a week, maybe, two weeks if we eat one meal a day."

"I wonder what they're doing now." Rosanna rested her head on Matt's shoulder. "Why is the siren back again?"

"I have a few-" Matt was cut off by an explosion. The ground shaked beneath them. Safiya shot up.

"Oh, my God."

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The thing with the bunker, in my country, some people have bunkers in their backyard, so I thought I'd add it in... Or just a lil' bit of movie magic won't hurt, right? ;)


	6. The Bombing

***

"Are they-" Matt was cut off by another explosion, he flinched. "Bombing the country?" He looked at Safiya, eyes wide with shock.

"Of course they are," Safiya snapped. "I mean, how else would you explain the freakin' explosions? Someone making popcorn?" she asked sarcastically. She stopped when they heard growling outside. Inhaling sharply, she shifted on her place, an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Safiya closed her eyes for a moment, but quickly opened them again.

_Don't show weakness, they might use it against you._

Suddenly the light flickered, leaving them in darkness for a few seconds. Rosanna let out a small squeal. Safiya held on to her camera, eyes closed. Sand fell down from the ceiling and fell on Matt and Rosanna. Matt ran his fingers through his hair, getting it out.

"We aren't going to die, right?" Rosanna mumbled, brushing sand off her shoulder. Nobody answered, not knowing what to say. "I need to call my parents," she remarked, she reached for her phone. Safiya raised her eyebrows.

"I don't think-" she started, she stopped mid-sentence when it went completely dark. "Crap." Rosanna let out a shriek. Matt immediately clamped his hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"Don't make any sound," he whispered, still hearing the growling and hissing outside. "Can you be quiet? I'm right here, you're not alone here, okay?" Rosanna nodded, but realized he couldn't see it, so she softly said, "yes." And Matt released her, wrapping his arm around the girl. Safiya's lips curled into a beginning of a smile.

 _So, that's what friendship is like._ She gnawed her lip, realizing she had missed that her entire childhood. Safiya rapidly blinked her tears away. _You're not going to cry now, stay strong._

They heard the explosions in the distance, slowly coming closer. The trio turned on the flashlights of their phones.

"Crap, I don't have any signal," Matt muttered, worry edging his voice. He looked at the two girls who were checking their phones as well. "Does one of you have signal so we can call _someone_?"

A choked sound came out of Rosanna's throat, giving away she didn't have signal either, so she couldn't contact her parents. Matt quietly wrapped his arm around her, trying to comfort her.

"No," Safiya sighed. Rosanna gnawed on her lip, an uneasy feeling in her stomach. They turned off their phones, sitting in the darkness once again, no one knew what to say. Rosanna broke the silence after a few minutes.

"What do we do now?" she asked softly. Safiya let out a sigh.

"I guess we just wait," Safiya murmured, she flinched when the explosions came closer and closer. "The only thing we can do is pray that we don't _die_."

***

Adil waited in suspense, then the bombs started falling. He took a shaky breath. It was happening. People started to wriggle around, fear taking over. He was in a big bunker, filled with people and kids. A small girl started to cry. Adil kneeled down, looking into her bright blue eyes, wet with tears.

"Hey, shh, it's okay," he calmed her down as best he could. She flapped her tiny arms around in the air, almost hitting Adil. He ducked away, not in the mood to get hit by a toddler.

"Mommy!" the girl cried out, reaching for him. Adil lifted the toddler into the air and looked around, hoping to find her mother. "Mommy."

"Yes, mommy. I'll find her. Where is your mommy?" he demanded, knowing very well that she probably couldn't even answer. "Where is she?" he asked to no one in particular, Adil put the girl down, grabbing her small hand.

He saw a distressed woman, looking around and calling out a name. "What's your name?" Adil asked the girl. The small girl nearly fell but he caught her when the ground shaked due the bombs. He wiped the tears away. "Come on, away with the tears. We'll find your mommy, what's your name?"

"Emmy," the girl sniffled. Adil got up and waved at the woman. She looked at him, confusion clouding the fear in her eyes.

"Are you looking for Emmy?" He pointed at the small girl. A wave of relief washed over the woman's face. She ran over to them and lifted Emmy into the air, hugging the small toddler. Her lip trembled with emotion.

"I thought I lost you, what did I say about staying with mommy and daddy?" The woman turned to Adil. "Thank-" she was cut off by a piece of the ceiling crashing down upon them. Adil yanked them away just in time. One person wasn't so lucky. With a loud grunt they fell to the ground, buried under the rubbish. Gasps and screams surrounded them.

"Someone, help him!" a man screamed. People started to haul the pieces of the person. Adil sped over to him, it was a teenage boy, not much younger than himself. Looking for a pulse, Adil said they had to find a doctor or a first aid kit. Blood dripped out of a massive wound on the boy's head, he was moaning of pain. Adil sighed of relief.

_He's making sound, as long as he makes sounds, he's alive._

"C'mon, you'll be okay," Adil insisted. "Hopefully..." He tried to stop the bleeding by pressing a jacket that someone offered against his head. The boy weakly gasped for air, Adil feared he wasn't going to make it. And he was right, he angrily blinked away his tears as the boy drew his last breath. Suddenly a man flew through the crowd, pushing everyone away.

"That's my boy!" he yelped. "My boy! Roi!" The man cried out of pain as he pulled Roi's dead body into his embrace.

Adil got up, covered in blood and anger raging through his body.

 _Once this is over, I'm going to study to become a doctor,_ he vowed. _I'm doing it for you, Roi. If I only had known a bit more about medical stuff._

Digging his nails into his palm, he took a deep breath, refusing to look at Roi's seemingly small body. He glanced around, looking for people that might need help. Adil still heard the explosions. Worry pushed away the anger, filling him up completely

***

Tyler anxiously waited in the bunker. It was quite big, with three seperate rooms and a small kitchen with an even smaller storage room with food. He was fully aware of the bombs slowly coming closer.

He looked at his sister, struggling to get the heater to work. It was freezing in the bunker, like there hadn't been people in it for years, which... was probably true. His father and mother were checking if the food was still edible.

"If this thing won't work in three seconds, I'll _smash_ it to pieces," Stefanie hissed. Tyler got up.

"Can I help?" he asked. Stefanie gave him a death glare.

"With smashing into pieces? Back off, it's mine," she groaned and kicked it. Tyler raised his eyebrow.

"Surely it would work if you kick it," Tyler said sarcastically. Stefanie looked at him, bursting out in nervous laughter.

"Oh brother, I am so stressed, you wouldn't know," she sighed. Tyler winced when he heard a explosion dangerously close. He quickly recovered, straightening.

"I think I do, I'm in the same situation, you know," he remarked dryly, referring to the explosion. Stefanie tried to turn on the heater again. Tyler pushed her to the side, and clicked on the button. Stefanie let out a sound of suprise.

"It worked...?" she mumbled with disbelief. Tyler grinned triumphantly and held up his hand, Stefanie high-fived him.

"I have magic hands."

"What? Are you Elsa or something?" Stefanie asked, eyes twinkling. Tyler quickly hid his hands.

"How did you know?" he asked warily, backing up. Stefanie scoffed and pushed him.

"Come on, let's look around and see where we have to stay for... a few weeks at least," Stefanie said slowly.

"You don't say so," Tyler muttered dryly.

"Okay, that's enough sarcasm for today," Stefanie narrowed her eyes.

"There's never enough sarcasm," Tyler mumbled. Stefanie furrowed her brows. "Okay fine, sorry, jeez. Let's just go find Mom and Dad."

"Mom? Dad?" The siblings walked into some kind of kitchen. Their parents turned around, their eyes filled with anxiety. Tyler's heart sank, what _else_ could possibly be wrong?

"The food here isn't edible, as soon as we finish ours that we brought..." their mother trailed off, hands shaking.

"What about water?" Stefanie asked. They shared worried looks. "What?" Their dad sighed, a mix of frustration and worry.

"We don't know, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, there's nothing you can do about it. Atleast we're safe here, right?" Tyler's voice was barely a whisper. His parents nodded. Relief washed over him.

He may be away from home, but he was safe, for now.

***

Tyler jumped when he heard an explosion very close. The lights went out. Tyler stared into the distance, realizing that the bombs had reached the town.

_The bombs are here._

_Safiya._

Tyler grabbed his phone, he pressed on Safiya's contact, feeling nervous. "C'mon..."

Nothing. Groaning, he threw his phone on the stretcher. "Damnit," he muttered, starting to pacing around.

_What if she's dead?_

_No, she isn't, it's just that I don't have signal._

_Right?_

_Damn Tyler, why do you care so much?_

His sister looked up, wondering what was wrong. Stefanie sat up, watching him for a few moments, she groaned when Tyler didn't talk.

"Okay, since you won't start the conversation, what's wrong?" Stefanie asked. Tyler looked at her, worry surging through him.

"She won't pick up. I don't have signal, I think the bombs destroyed the utility poles," Tyler said, grabbing his phone again, he sat down on Stefanie's stretcher. She looked over his shoulder.

"You got yourself a girlfriend?" she teased, nudging him.

"No," he said stiffly, "she's just a friend." Stefanie raised her eyebrow, knowing very well that he liked her because his reaction.

"What's she like?" Tyler let out a sigh. "Hey, anything to help us get through this bombing, I need my mind off it."

"She's incredibly smart, she's also really funny," Tyler started, thinking back to the night they hung out. He didn't want to call it a date, but he liked to think it was.

***

_"You know, in Ancient Greece if someone threw an apple at you, that means they proposed to you," Safiya said, Tyler looked at her, his lips curling into a smile._

_"Really?" The raven-haired girl nodded._

_"Yeah, I don't know why, I think it's quite funny. One moment you'll be walking down the street and be next moment you get knocked out because someone throws an damn apple against your head."_

_The two burst out in laughter. Safiya got up and reenacted it. She let herself fall to the ground._

_Tyler laughed, "are you a theater kid?" Safiya nodded and tucked a lost strand of her hair behind her ear. She plopped down again._

_"Yeah." She grabbed her phone and showed him a photo._

_"You look pretty," Tyler remarked. Safiya's cheeks tinted pink, it was adorable. "You do!" he insisted._

_"Okay, that's enough, I'm not that pretty," Safiya turned off her phone. Tyler caught himself staring at her, he raised his eyebrow._

_"You're right." Confusion spread across her gaze. "What?"_

_"You're not pretty, you're gorgeous," Tyler grinned. Safiya's cheeks flushed bright red, she pushed him away, letting out a giggle._

_"Stop flirting with me, Williams."_

_"We'll see about that." Tyler wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You're too easy to flirt with." Safiya scoffed, rolling her eyes._

_"We'll see about that," she mocked him with a bright smile._

_***_

"She sounds wonderful," Stefanie whispered. Tyler jumped up, forgetting she was there. Stefanie laughed.

"Yes, but I don't like her in that way, just platonic," he insisted. Stefanie narrowed her eyes.

"'Just platonic'," she mocked him. "You are so in love with her," she winked, pushing his shoulder. Tyler groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Am not," he mumbled. Stefanie had a mischievous smile on her face. "Are too," she teased. Tyler crossed his arms.

"Am. Not."

"Are too."

"I am not in love with Safiya!" Tyler shouted. Stefanie wiggled her eyebrows and started laughing. He looked at her, confusion filling his gaze.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I never said who," she smirked. Tyler stared at her, not knowing what to say. Stefanie smiled triumphantly. "Told you, you're falling head over heels, and you only went on _one_ date!"

"It wasn't a date! Beside, it seems like Safiya doesn't trust anyone. The following days she kept turning down my offers to hang out."

"It'll take ti-"

Tyler held up his hand, gesturing her to stop talking. "Wait, do you hear that?" Stefanie frowned. "Nothing," he said, relief sparked in his eyes.

"It stopped," Stefanie said, relief washing over her. Tyler released a shaky breath, hugging Stefanie. "We survived," Stefanie snorted. Tyler shaked his head in disbelief.

***

Matt was softly repeating some kind of theory, Safiya was playing around with her camera and Rosanna was humming a song to distract themselves from the sounds. The explosions were very close now. Safiya suspected they were a few houses away. She was shaking, even though her parents basically betrayed her, she needed them, now more than ever.

They still were in the dark, they turned off their flashlight to save their phone batteries. Matt still had his arm wrapped around the petite brunette's shoulder, knowing her fear of the dark. She sniffled every once in a while.

"I'm worried sick," Safiya mumbled after a few hours. Matt assumed that the bombs were just passed them, he sighed.

"Same, both for my family and Stephanie, I hope they got to a bunker in time. I'm glad they decided to keep the bunker instead of breaking it down," he said.

"Probably because when they started the experiment, they knew that if this would happen, they would drop bombs," Safiya remarked, sounding different than her usual tone. She sounded irritated. probably to cover up the fact that she was scared. Rosanna just sighed, not saying anything because she didn't know _what_ to say. They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

"Is it just me or did they stop dropping bombs?" Matt remarked. "Or am I used to the sound?"

"It stopped," Rosanna mumbled.

"I say we stay here just a little bit longer, we don't know for sure if the coast is clear," Safiya suggested. The others agreed.

"I'm not in the mood to die right now," Matt huffed. "Still no signal?"

"Nope," Rosanna sighed. Safiya didn't answer, instead she mumbled to herself. "It'll be okay. Everything will be okay."

"Are you trying to convince us, or yourself?" Matt joked. Safiya snorted, she gave him a lethal glare. He couldn't see it anyway.

"I'm not trying to convince anyone, I'm telling myself lies. I mean, look what happened, Matt. They bombed the country, jeez- zombies roamed across the streets, zombies, Matt. _Zombies_ ," she said with a snappy tone.

"Yes, I know," Matt said gently. "But we'll be fine, just trust me."

"Everytime I trust someone, I end up alone and in pain," Safiya muttered softly. Matt opened his mouth to answer, but he knew it probably wasn't meant for his ears. "What time is it?" she asked, pretending like it didn't happen.

"Almost midnight," Rosanna answered. "We should go to sleep and things will look brighter in the morning, hopefully..."

"Yeah, hopefully," Safiya scoffed. She leaned against the pillow on the bed, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "Let's hope the zombies are gone and everything goes back to normal like this never happened."

"Are you okay?" Rosanna asked. Safiya took a moment to answer, she sat up.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" She heard movement and suddenly she felt two arms around her. After a minute or so, Rosanna pulled away and sat back on her place.

"Sorry, I'm not used to whatever that was," Safiya croaked.

"That was a hug," Rosanna chuckled.

"I thought you were attacking me really gently," Safiya admitted.

"Well, to be fair, this would be how I would attack you," Rosanna laughed. Safiya let out a laugh. Matt smiled.

"Good night."

***

Mike backed up, watching in terror as the zombies flooded into the streets.

He met his mother's bewildered gaze.

" _Run_."


	7. The Aftermath

_***_

"Help!"

Stephanie watched in horror as zombies circled her neighbor, devouring her. She was unable to tear her eyes away from the scene.

Her mother grabbed her hand and pulled her away, zombies running after them. Some were slow and the others were faster.

"Head for the main bunker!" her mother yelled. Stephanie knew where it was, she had been there before with a few friends to hang out. There was a man, keeping the hatch closed. He let go of it and shot the zombies.

"Go! Run!" Stephanie's father called out, Stephanie forced herself to run harder and flung herself inside the bunker. She waited for her parents before going down the stairs.

They were panting and sweating from the long run. While looking for a place to sit down, Stephanie let out a small sigh.

"All those months of running finally payed off," Stephanie said, trying to lighten the mood. There were already quite a lot of people in the bunker. "Mike?" Stephanie was looking at her classmate. The boy turned around.

"Hey, I didn't see you."

"I just got here, where's your family?" she asked. Mike pointed in the direction. "Ah, okay." They looked at the people coming into the bunker. "What's-" she didn't continue.

"They closed the hatch," Mike informed her after what seemed like hours. Stephanie shrugged. "Well, everyone made it in time, so what's the problem?" Stephanie looked around to see if she could spot Matt.

"Not everyone's inside, Matt isn't here," Mike reasoned. Stephanie paled, her heart stopping for a moment, he was right, Matt wasn't here, he was at his house. Her heart sank.

"Matt might have a bunker in his backyard," Stephanie retorted, trying to block out her fear. She wouldn't believe that he might be dead, and she won't. He would be alive when she came out of the bunker, she told herself.

"Keep telling yourself that, and maybe you'll start believing it," Mike snorted. Stephanie crossed her arms and looked at him, annoyance washing over her.

"Okay, damn, you don't have be such a..." she trailed off, wiggling her eyebrows and letting out a sigh. They heard a deafening explosion which made the ground shake. Mike nearly fell to the ground. The girl quickly held him on his feet. He muttered a 'thanks', clearly embarrassed. Stephanie didn't say anything, she wouldn't care if he had fell, she would've helped him anyway. Without another word, she rushed over to her family, wanting to be with them.

***

"Okay, people," the man from earlier started, the bombing stopped a few minutes ago. "You can't go back to the town yet, we need to know if it's safe!"

"Stephanie," someone said behind her. Turning around, she met Mike's gaze. To her suprise, his eyes were filled with emotion.

"Have you seen Ro by any chance? I don't think I ever saw her in the bunker." Stephanie shaked her head, she knew the girl, but not well. Matt said something about Rosanna a few times, he was very fond of her, but he promised there was no romance involved, they were like siblings.

"No, I haven't, I believe she's with Matt and.. Sofia or something, " Stephanie informed him. "Why?"

"Nothing," grumbled Mike. "I'm just worried." Stephanie raised her eyebrow, folding her arms. "Okay, fine, I like her, really really like her. My heart stops for a moment when I see her, I never know what to say. And a girl yelled that Rosanna liked me too. I was planning on asking her out but then this happened." He said it so quickly that Stephanie almost couldn't keep up.

"Okay, dang, no need to talk that fast," she retorted, she looked a bit overwhelmed. Mike sighed.

"And besides that, I didn't have any contact with her the past hours because my phone stopped working."

Stephanie pulled out her phone, wondering if she had signal, but she didn't. Sighing, she put it in her pocket again.

"I don't have signal, just like you, which means I haven't been in contact with them either. I'm worried too," mumbled Stephanie, a hint of worry lingering her voice. She cleared her throat, she pushed the worry away for now.

She glanced at the hatch, suddenly feeling a rush of confidence. A plan formed in her head. "Well," she said softly, "want to go and look for them?" The boy hesitated. Stephanie chewed on the inside of her cheek, waiting for his answer.

"We aren't allowed outside yet, and what about our families? What if they aren't done bombing the place?" Mike looked at her, a frown appearing on his face.

"We'll be fine. C'mon, don't you want to know what happened to Ro?" Stephanie elbowed him, hoping that it would convince him to join the search. He looked like he was considering it. "It may seem insane-"

"Which it _is_ ," Mike interrupted. Stephanie groaned, getting fed up and worried again.

"Mike, I don't want to find three bodies on my own!" Mike clamped his hand over her mouth, silencing the brown-haired girl.

"Okay, fine, I'll come with you and with your _stupid_ plan, but only because I want to know what happened to them. What is that plan of yours, anyway?"

***

Stephanie's eyes darted around the bunker, checking if no one was looking. When the coast was clear, she embraced herself for the light and opened the hatch of the bunker. She stepped outside and quickly shut the hatch again.

Turning around, she saw the aftermath of the bombing. A few bodies were lying around the bunker, both zombies and from people, the people that didn't make it in time, were bitten.

"Oh, my gosh.."

Stephanie didn't notice the hatch opening again and Mike quickly jumping out. He closed the hatch and looked around, raising his eyebrow.

"Still convinced that everyone made it in time?"

Stephanie yelped of suprise. Mike laughed softly. She quickly recovered from her shock and cleared her throat.

"There's nothing left, but I highly doubt that the zombies survived the bombing," Stephanie muttered. "We should go before they notice that we're missing." Suddenly the hatch moved again.

"Seems like they atleast noticed the hatch opening." Mike remarked dryly, pulling Stephanie towards the town. A feeling of unease rose inside of Stephanie as they passed the bodies. Millions of thoughts races through her head. What if Matt got bit after all? What if he got hit by a bomb? What if-

Her thoughts were interrupted by Mike pressing something in her hand. Stephanie looked down at her hand, eyes widening and her jaw slightly dropping. She stared up at him.

"A dagger? How did you get this?"

"I found it in the bunker," Mike replied. "You can have it, I can defend myself with my fists." Stephanie arched her brows, folding her arms across her chest.

"Are you saying that I'm not strong enough?"

"Yes," Mike shrugged. Stephanie's jaw dropped more, unable to believe him.

"I beg your misogynistic pardon?" Stephanie protested. "I am stronger than you might think." Mike halted.

"Prove it." Stephanie scoffed, not in the mood for a quarrel with him, instead, she kept on walking.

"We don't have the time for this, _child_. Let's just focus on finding Matt and Ro and get back to the bunker."

***

"Dude, you have Uno here, why do you have such an amazing game here in this musty bunker, and not in your house?" Matt asked. Safiya rolled her eyes and muttered something beneath her breath, not looking up from her phone. Matt grabbed the cardgame and threw it at Rosanna. The girl yelped of suprise.

"Really? We're going to play it?" wondered Rosanna. Matt nodded, a serious look on his face. "We could use a stress reliever," he reasoned. Rosanna held back a laugh.

"This? A stress reliever? You're freaking competitive, this is going to end either in you throwing your cards around or you bragging about for ages," she remarked. Matt held up his hand and ignored her. Instead he turned to Safiya.

"Are you joining?"

"No."

"Don't be like this now, Safiya," Matt groaned loudly. "We survived a zombie apocalyps and a damn bombing."

"A zombie apocalyps from _one_ day," Safiya corrected him, not tearing her eyes from her phone. Matt rolled his eyes, deeply disapointed he had to do this, and snatched the phone away from her. "Give it back." The raven-haired girl got up. Matt held up his hand. Safiya scoffed and grabbed his wrist, forcing it down to grab her phone.

"You don't want to do this right now," she said in a low voice.

"I won't if you play Uno with us."

"Are we going to negotiate?" Safiya crossed her arms. She raised her eyebrow for a brief moment before letting her arms dangle to her sides. "Okay, just so you know, I'm going to beat your ass, Patrick."

"It's just a card game."

"So? I'm beating you, no doubt."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that, Nygaard."

"Only Tyler can call her that," Rosanna butted in. Safiya gave her a lethal glare without thinking twice. "Sorry," she immediately apologized. Rosanna cracked a smile and patted next to her, offering a seat. Safiya sat down beside her. Clearing her throat, she straightened and grabbed her cards.

"Prepare to lose," she chuckled.

***

"I swear to _God_ , Matt, if you put a god damn draw four, I won't hesitate to _kill_ you," Safiya hissed through gritted teeth, looking up from her two cards.

"What if Tyler drew a draw four?" Matt muttered underneath his breath. Rosanna laughed before she could think, she clamped her hand over her mouth.

"A lady can make an exception," said Safiya, slamming card down. "Uno," she smirked. Matt had a look of frustration of his face, he looked at his cards, anger boiling inside of him.

"I don't have one, don't worry," he hissed, throwing a card on the pile. Safiya put down her last card.

"I won, told ya," Safiya shrugged, "please, no portraits." Matt took a deep breath before speaking, trying to keep his cool.

"Okay, I'm never playing Uno with you again," Matt grumbled eventually. Rosanna mumbled something, she kept looking on her phone, probably looking if she had signal again. Safiya noticed it.

"We won't have signal any time soon, Ro, the only thing we can do is hope for the best."

"Yeah, but... what if? Safiya, we're in a bunker, without any adults, no idea whether _my_ parents are alive or not, neither does Matt and we have a limited stock of food and water. Atleast _you_ know for sure that your parents are alive," Rosanna shot back, a bit more harsh than she intended but she didn't take her words back.

Safiya didn't know what to say, instead she looked at her hands, suddenly feeling guilty. "I'm sorry." Rosanna didn't say anything.

 _Well, great job, Safiya, now you've done it,_ she thought frustratedly. _You just ruined the chances of a friendship. Wonderful._

***

"Do you know where Matt's house is?" Mike asked. Stephanie cast him a glance before looking in front of her again.

"Really? He's my boyfriend, and you assume I don't know where he..." Stephanie trailed off. Dead bodies were everywere, most of them were covered in bites from the zombies, some were even missing chunks and limbs of their body.

"Seems like not everyone got too a bunker in time," Mike remarked, again. Stephanie whirled around, anger dlaring.

"Okay, that's enough, I know I was wrong but don't rub it in, a lot of lives were lost, so stop being so goddamned smug about it," Stephanie snapped. She straightened amd cleared her throat, "let's make a run for it."

They ran through the town, houses bombed to the ground, several were on fire. They eventually came into an empty street.

Stephanie held the dagger tighter as it slowly became night. The two slowed down. Green and red blood was splattered on the streets. Mike stopped and wiped some of the blood of the street, he looked at it.

"Do you think the zombies have some kind of green blood?" he asked. Stephanie halted.

"I don't know, but-" Stephanie abruptly stopped talking, hearing soft growling. "Did you hear that too?" Fear washed over her, she remembered how her neighbor got eaten alive.

"No, I heard nothing?" Mike said, confused. Stephanie bit her lip and shivered, forcing herself to believe that she imagined it.

"Okay... Come on, we're almost there."

"You sure?" Stephanie deadpanned him, hoping he would get the hint that he had to shut up.

"Okay, got it, jeez."

***

Matt opened his eyes, unable to sleep. Instead he looked into the distance. He thought about his confession to Stephanie. It brought a small smile to his face, remembering the awkardness.

_***_

_Matt took a deep breath and waited for Stephanie, he really wanted to tell her how he felt, so he called her and asked to hang out._

_He smiled shyly when Stephanie approached him, a smile on her face._

_"Stephanie?" Matt started. Stephanie looked at him, "yes?"_

_"You.." Matt stuttered, nervously. "You make my heart have premature ventricular contractions," he blurted. Stephanie stared at him._

_"Wait, what?"_ _Confusion clouded her face._

_"I like you, a lot," he managed to get out. Stephanie smiled at him._

_"_ _Well, Matthew Patrick, then it's your lucky day._ _I like you, too."_

_***_

"Can't sleep either, huh?"

Matt let out a small scream. He heard Safiya laugh, her phone lit up the space around her.

"I was checking if we got the signal back, but I think we have to go outside," she stated. Matt sighed. "Why can't you sleep?"

"I don't know, my head is too full," Matt explained. Safiya turned off her phone, they were in the dark once again. The girl let out a small sigh of frustration.

"Try to sleep, we'll go outside tomorrow."

"Promise me you'll get some sleep too?" She didn't answer. Matt closed his eyes, not sure whether if he could fall asleep.

***

"Oh, my gosh!" Stephanie dashed towards Matt's house. It was completely destroyed.

 _It can't be._ She climbed on the pile, gesturing towards Mike. "Quick! Look around!"

"They aren't here," Stephanie said after a while, her face was pale. Mike sighed.

"We'll find them," he replied. "We just have to find Ro's address, maybe the adress from other girl, too."

"Then we'd have to go through the _whole_ town!" Stephanie stared at him. "It's a big town and it's _night_ _time_!"

"We can't go back to the bunker, we'll be killed before we can say 'uninfected'," Mike reasoned. Stephanie dug her hands into her hair.

"Oh gosh, what do we do?" Stephanie asked desperately. Mike looked at her, a frown on his face.

"We keep searching."

''Atleast the zombies are gone," Stephanie remarked. "That'll make it a lot easier." Mike snorted, "you really think they're gone? Have you seen the amount of people that got bit?"

"Well, that's one way to bring down the mood,'' the girl snapped. They walked through the town, looking between the remains of the houses.

"I'm sorry, but we'll have to look out at all costs, I don't want to tell Matt that you died or got bit while you were with me.''

''If Matt's still alive,'' Stephanie whispered to herself. Mike prodded her, pointing at a house that was still standing for the most part.

"Let's crash there for the night," he said. Stephanie snorted, like it was a ridiculous idea. Mile groaned. "We'll get in, _somehow_."

"We should've left in the morning," Stephanie muttered. Mike rolled his eyes and pushed her towards the house.

"Well, we didn't, so _get over it_." Stephanie inhaled sharply, like she wanted to snap at him, but she kept quiet. Instead she pushed Mike away.

"I can walk on my own, thank you very much."

***

"Wake up, it's morning, you got your beauty sleep," Stephanie shook the boy awake. Mike got up with a grunt. "Not a morning person?" Stephanie asked sarcastically. Mike shot her an angry look. "Maybe you're just sensitive without food."

"I'm this close at slapping you." Mike held up his fingers. Stephanie looked at them.

"They're touching."

"Exactly."

The girl scoffed, "you wouldn't dare."

"Oh yeah? Watch me."

***

They walked towards the streets again, after a few quarrels. They checked the piles of rubbish.

Mike looked up, hearing something.

"Stephanie?"

The girl didn't answer. Mike turned around and snapped his fingers in front of Stephanie's face. She flinched and looked at him.

"What?" Mike held up his hand, gesturing she had to listen. "Stephanie, do you hear that?"

***


	8. Ghost Town

***

"Wake up, we're going outside." Matt shook the two girls awake. Safiya sighed, reaching around for the baseball bat and her camera.

"I can't see anything in the damn dark," she muttered frustratedly to herself. "Do you think I should I take the meds?"

"I think you should, there has to be a good reason why you have to take them, even though you don't know it," Matt advised. He heard her open the bottle and a waterbottle.

"Let's eat first," Rosanna suggested. "We won't get far on an empty stomach." She gave each of them some food. "They're gone, right?" she asked hesitantly.

"I think so, but we still have to be careful," Matt warned. Rosanna grabbed the backpack with a soft sigh, "can someone pinch me so I know- _Ow_! Not that hard!" She smacked around, eventually hitting the one to blame, which was Matt. "Frick you. That wasn't fair to do it without warning."

"Woah, calm down tiger." Matt pricked her side, which was followed by another smack, this time on his shoulder. "Gotcha," said Rosanna smugly.

Safiya cleared her throat, causing the two to jump and focus again. "Okay, thank you.  
Well... Here goes nothing, I guess." Safiya unlocked the hatch and tried to push it open, but she failed. Another push, still no success. With a sigh, she turned, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see the others. "Uh, guys? A little help would be appreciated, please?" Rosanna and Matt immediately rushed over to help her. Suddenly there was a loud thud and a yelp from Rosanna.

"Ro?" Matt reached out, unintentionally grabbing Safiya's shoulder, who scoffed.

"That's me."

"No shit Sherlock. Ro, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just hit my head."

"Can we please focus on getting out of here?" Safiya pushed against the hatch again with a grunt of effort. Rosanna and Matt joined in, all letting out huffs and grunts. For a moment, they got it to open a bit, but it just fell back.

"God damn it. Is it really stuck?" Matt panted. Safiya stared at him, unable to believe that he really just asked that, wasn't he supposed to be smart?

"Of course, it's stuck, Matthew! We got _bombed_! Everything is basically _destroyed_!" she snapped , she sighed. "Sorry, I'm just frustrated. I want to get out there and look for your parents and- let's just get this open." Safiya threw herself against the hatch out of frustration, without any result but a painful shoulder.

"We're buried in the remains of your house, whatever you do, it won't help," Rosanna chimed. Safiya deadpanned her before realising she couldn't see her, _who's the dumb one now, huh?_

Tapping thoughtfully on her chin for a few moments, an idea popped into her head.

"Cover your ears if you don't want to go deaf," Safiya warned, she took a deep breath, thought, ' _pray for my vocal cords',_ and _screamed_. She could feel the two pairs of eyes looking at her in suprise. "Shut up," she said, once she caught her breath. "I'm getting us out of here."

"By killing your vocal cords?" Matt wondered. Rosanna chortled. The raven-haired girl deadpanned them, even though they couldn't see it

"If there _is_ someone out there, they can hear us, so... I think killing my vocal cords is worth it. Unless you want to die of hunger and hydration?" Safiya had sounded more harsh than she intended, but she didn't say anything of it.

"N-no, thank you," Rosanna mumbled. She cleared her throat. "Well, let's just get it over with."

***

"Do you hear that?" Mike asked. Stephanie frowned, staring at Mike.

"Someone's in trouble," she said, pulling him with her towards the sound.

"Wait- whag about Matt?" Mike called out when she let go of him to run forward. Stephanie didn't answer, mainly focused on saving the person first, Matt was smart enough to save his own ass for a while.

They ran for a solid five minutes until the screaming stopped. The two looked at the house, where the sound came from. It mostly destroyed, a few walls were still standing. The backyard was buried in pieces of the house. As the screaming started again, it became clear that the person was close by.

"Quick, push the rubbish to the side. Hello?!" Mike called out. Stephanie stopped for a moment, listening if they could hear anything.

"Help us!" The yell was muffled. "We're in the bunker in the backyard!"

" _Matt_?!" Stephanie exclaimed, she climbed to where the backyard was supposed to be.

"Stephanie, is that you?! Please, help us! We're stuck in here! Ro and Safiya are here too!" Mike's head perked up and crawled towards Stephanie.

Heaving and panting, they started to remove the broken parts of the wall. Mike brushed a bit of sweat from his forehead. "Keep talking!" be said through gritted teeth, trying to get a big piece of the door. Matt started ranting about how worried he was for Stephanie and his parents. It warmed Mike's heart. A blush formed on Stephanie's cheeks, but she ignored it and dug further. Slowly but surely the hatch appeared.

"You can open it!" Stephanie exclaimed. The hatch opened and Safiya appeared, squinting her eyes.

"Come on," Mike hauled her outside and hugged her, Safiya froze in suprise. Matt climbed out, Stephanie let out a squeal and ran towards him, embracing him.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" They kissed for a moment. Rosanna gave Safiya the stuff and came out of the bunker. Mike cleared his throat, unsure what he was supposed to do. The brunette wrapping her short arms around the way taller boy, making the scene a bit comical.

"Thanks for saving us," she whispered. Mike flushed red and stuttered something along the lines of 'you're welcome'.

Safiya took a deep breath, looking around. Her gaze landed on her house, completely destroyed. Her heart sank a little bit.

Her home was bombed to the ground.

She held onto her camera for comfort, knowing she would have to leave it behind, eventually. Someone put their hand on her shoulder, she took a step to the side, shaking the hand off. She turned around and met Matt's gaze.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Safiya nodded and smiled at him, though the smile didn't reach her eyes, which wasn't very suprising. "I am, don't worry."

"We should take a photo," Rosanna prompted. "To show that we survived."

A hum of agreement rippled through the group, and Safiya set up her camera, still a bit confused. She quickly bolted back to the others and waited for the picture to be taken.

"Anyway, you should go to your parents," she said once they were done, looking down at the camera and checking the photo. It was a good one. Rosanna's head had perked up. Stephanie bit her lip, a thoughtful look on her face. They turned towards the girl. "What?"

"I never saw Rosanna nor Matt's parents go in the bunker, I never saw your parents, so I don't know if they're in the bunker." Safiya scoffed, everyone looked at her.

"No, my parents are six hours away, in a lab, leaving me here to _die_ ," she snapped. "Go to your parents, I'll be fine."

"You can come with us," Rosanna suggested. "You're our friend." Safiya let out a laugh.

"I'm not your friend, everyone hates me, so why don't you? You don't have to fake." Matt's jaw dropped.

"Safiya, we literally went through a apocalypse and a bombing, together. And- You know what? We try to be friends with you, we really do, but all you ever do is just _push_ us away, and I'm _done_."

***

Tyler was pacing through the bunker, he didn't know whether it was day or night. He knew his family was worried about him, but he couldn't help it, he was just so restless.

"When can we go outside again?" he asked for the fifth time. His sister, Stefanie didn't patiently remind him that it still wasn't safe like she did before, instead she snapped, "Tyler, if you don't sit your ass down in three seconds, I'll make sure you don't get any food." Tyler gave her an angry glance, but sat down, letting out a sigh.

"I don't want to be stuck here, I want to go outside and help the people," he tried to explain, hoping bet annoyance would fade away. Stefanie bit her lip and looked at him.

"I don't... I don't think there are people that need help... I don't think people survived the bombing, Ty. There were a lot of explosions, I'd be suprised if the town didn't burn down to the ground," she remarked. Tyler's eyebrows stitched together in confusion.

"Didn't they go to the bunker?"

"I don't know, I wasn't with them," Stefanie wiggled her eyebrows. Tyler rolled his eyes, and laughed. He stopped almost immediately, feeling bad about it. Stefanie exhaled slowly.

"I'm sorry, bad joke. I'm just worried and need some way to relieve stress." Tyler didn't answer, instead his sister hoisted him to his feet, making him hum in suprise. Stefanie cocked her head to the side.

"C'mon, I found a few boxes earlier. I wondered what it was but didn't even look in them. What about we do that right now?"

***

"Matt, we can't go off on our own, right now, please," Rosanna begged.

"True," Mike agreed. "Who knows if the zombies are gone? Maybe the dead that got bit will rise again."

No one said anything. Safiya and Matt were staring at eachother. Suddenly Safiya sighed. Matt perked his head in suprise, he did not expect Safiya to give up that easily.

"I don't want to fight." Internally groaning, she continued. "They're right," she admitted. "I'm sorry. We should do something productive, like, packing some food and water and finding their parents. We should care about that, not our... _problems_." Matt took a deep breath and held out his hand. Safiya ignored it, she went and hugged him.

"I'm sorry," she repeated in his ear. Matt kept quiet. They eventually pulled away. Safiya quickly wiped away a tear and cleared her throat to catch their attention.

"Okay, we got work to do, we have to look for signal, pack water and food, get guns _somehow_ just to be sure and find your parents," she croaked.

"Both Ro and Matt's parents weren't in the bunker, or atleast we didn't see them," Stephanie repeated. Rosanna inhaled sharply, her body tensing up.

"I know," Matt answered. "They were on a date night, that's why we were alone, otherwise we wouldn't have been out here." Mike turned to Safiya with a hopeful glance.

"Where are your parents? I don't know what they look like, so maybe you could describe them so I..." he slowly trailed off when Safiya blankly stared at him.

"I already told you, they left me, they're six hours away. With my brother who's supposed to be dead." Stephanie and Mike stared at her. Safiya shrugged. "It's a lony story. Anyways, Ro, you're-" Matt stopped her.

"Shouldn't we be making decisions together?" he asked, gently. Safiya flushed pink and nodded, letting Matt take the lead. "Okay, who wants to see if anyone can get signal?" Rosanna raised her hand and grabbed a baseball bat.

"I'll need your phones, what are your passwords?" she asked. Everyone gave their password and Rosanna seperated herself from the group.

"Who's gonna pack the water bottles?" Safiya wondered. "We have a few in the bunker."

"We can do that," Stephanie said, referring to her and Matt. Mike hopped from one foot to another before setting off after Rosanna. Safiya followed Matt and Stephanie into the bunker again.

***

Tyler opened the first box, it was filled with ammunition. He whistled in suprise. "Stef? What's in your box?"

Stefanie opened hers, she gasped and held up a rifle. Tyler stared at it and showed her the bullets.

"Oh, my gosh," Stefanie whispered. "Do Mom and Dad know about this?"

"There's only one way to find out," Tyler shrugged. Stefanie nodded slowly and got up.

"Dad?"

***

It was in the afternoon when the squad left Safiya's house. They had no signal, of course, which has led to a lot of annoyed, and scared reactions.

_"C'mon! C'mo- yes! I think I have- oh wait, never mind. I was wrong. I don't have signal," Rosanna sighed, disappointed and scared. "What do we do now?"_

_"We try, and if that doesn't work. We give up," Mike replied immediately._

_"Very inspirational, Mike. Truly life changing," Safiya muttered when she walked by. Mike gave her a scoff._

_"Shut up."_

_"And?" Both Stephanie and Matt had joined the party. Rosanna shook her head, "nothing. We're in trouble."_

_"Gee, what gave it away?"_

_"Now is not the time, Safiya."_

They decided to look for Rosanna's parents first. Stephanie was carrying the backpack, Rosanna and Matt shared a baseball bat and Mike had the dagger. Safiya was left to her own devices - which she insisted.

"This town has become a ghost town," Matt pointed out, kicking a piece of the road. He hissed when it hurted more than he intended. Safiya quietly nodded, cracking her knuckles and making sure they had a firm pace - in case zombies decided to show up. Even after the bombing, they weren't sure if they were really gone.

"Are we splitting up?" Mike asked, playing with his dagger. He rolled his eyes when Stephanie swatted his hand.

"That's not a good plan, right?" she mumbled, glancing around. "Let's stick together and- Oh, my God." Everyone stopped dead in their tracks to turn to the shocked girl.

"Steph, what's wrong?" Matt asked, quickly scanning the area around him for any kind of danger. The group was a bit weary after all, could there be more zombies? More bombs? Fire? Enemies?

"They aren't gone," Stephanie said, shakily pointing at the end of the road to their left. They slowly followed Stephanie's gaze, hearts pounding, although they already knew what was waiting for them.

Five zombies were staring back at them, foam dripping from their mouths and blood falling on the ground.

They were back.

And they were not happy.

***


	9. Zombies, Zombies Go Away, Don't Come Back Another Day

***

The group stared at the undead in disbelief, one was missing a hand, a mix between green and red blood dripped on the ground. The others were missing chunks of skins, showing their bones. But the squad didn't pay attention to that, multiple questions raced through their heads.

How were they back? Did they hide somewhere, waiting until the bombing was finished? Surely they aren't that smart... right?

Mike was the first one to break the silence with a low whisper, filled with shock. "The dead bodies, they turned," he said. Stephanie swallowed, warily reaching for Matt's hand.

"Should we..?" Rosanna trailed off, not finishing her sentence. The zombies took off walking, picking up more speed until they reached a running pace, they were slowly coming closer.

"We really should," Safiya nodded, getting scared. They quickly dashed away.

One zombie who was faster than the others, it caught up to them. Its growls and hisses made Stephanie sick. Wanting to vomit, she pushed herself to run harder. She might've been tired, but she wasn't in the mood to be devoured by flesh

"Split up!" someone yelled. Stephanie didn't know who said it, and quite frankly, she didn't care. She just needed to _run._

In all of a sudden Matt stopped and turned around. The squad looked over their shoulders in suprise, wondering why Matt stopped. They slowed down. Matt tightened his grip on the baseball bat. Stephanie came to a halt, eyes widening. She was unable to move anymore.

Was he really going to try taking them out single handedly?

"Matt?!" Safiya called out, stopping as well, running back for him. She halted in terror as she saw Matt preparing himself. Safiya took a deep breath as she ran towards him and yanking him to the side. She resisted the urge to yell angry slurs at him. Pulling him back towards the group, he protested and tried to free himself from Safiya's grip.

"Let me beat them into piec-"

"Not now, Matt, we need to _go_ before we _die_!"

"We gotta split up! That way it's easier to outrun them!" Mike repeated. Sprinting away from eachother, they each went into a different street, all wondering if it was a good decision.

***

Rosanna had never ran so fast in her life, but yet the zombie kept coming closer. She nearly dropped the baseball bat when it growled.

"I didn't know these things were so fast!" she shrieked to no one in particular, she was alone after all. She quickly glanced over her shoulder, luckily the zombie had dissappeared. Rosanna slowly came to a halt, catching her breath. It wasn't completely quiet, she heard low growling, which meant that the zombie was somewhere.

Tightening her grip on the baseball bat, she slowly twirled around in a circle. Rosanna froze, a soft hiss behind her. She turned around. Nearly gagging with sight of the messed up body, she ran towards it and smacked its kneecaps. To her satisfaction, it stumbled to the ground.

A satisfied smile crept on her lips, the bat landed on its head a few more times. Rosanna wiped a bit of sweat of her forehead.

"Ro-"

Rosanna shrieked loudly and whipped around. She jumped up and hit the person within one second. They collapsed on the street. It was Mike.

"Oh, _crap_."

***

Safiya halted, she finally outran the zombies. Her heart was pounding. She knew very well that the zombies could come back any minute and she didn't have anything to defend herself with, except for her camera.

 _That could work in an emergency, which it is,_ she thought. Safiya snorted. She knew she had to get rid of it at some point, if the apocalypse escalated even more, but she didn't want to think about that just yet. Safiya would worry about that if the time came.

Panting, she looked around, scanning the area and hoping to see anyone. No one. She nervously chewed on her lip and slowly started walking again, back to the street they originally were, holding her camera for comfort. Suddenly Safiya heard a loud shriek. She spinned around, recognizing the sound.

"Ro?!" She took off running again, into the street where the brunette was. Eyes widening, she saw Rosanna standing at two limp bodies.

 _Did she get bit?_ Safiya sprinted faster, but slowed when she saw something emerge from behind Rosanna.

"Rosanna! Behind you!" Safiya screamed,

The girl turned around, smacking the zombie on the floor, she kept bashing on its head until it didn't move anymore. Safiya caught up to her, catching her breath. Looking down at Mike, she checked for any wounds.

"What- Did- Is he-" Safiya gave up on trying to say anything, still physically dying from the lack of air. She just pointed at the tall boy. Rosanna wiped greenish blood off her cheek, fear forming in her eyes.

"I accidentally hit him," she confessed, kneeling down at Mike and checking for his pulse. "He isn't dead. Can you help me wake him up?" Rosanna asked. But Safiya was staring at the other body, another zombie.

"Are you okay?" Rosanna wondered.

"I'm fine, I'm just... I didn't expect this side of you," Safiya admitted shyly, she felt a bit guilty, because she didn't want Rosanna to hate her. But the brunette didn't answer, instead she said, "just help me wake him!"

"I think he-" Rosanna cut the raven-haired girl off, not letting her finish her sentence.

"Please! He's not dead!" Panic rose up inside Rosanna, she just wanted him to wake up. Safiya sighed and kneeled down.

"I didn't- Right, okay."

***

Matt saw Stephanie in the distance, sighing in relief, he ran towards her.

"Steph!"

Stephanie turned around, relief washing over her. Matt dropped the baseball bat. Stephanie fell into Matt's arms, letting out a sob. "I'm so scared, Matt." He ran his fingers through her hair, nodding.

"Me too, but we'll get through this, okay? Together," he whispered. Stephanie looked up, slowly backing up and pulling Matt with her.

"Matt..."

With a growl, the zombie charged at them. Stephanie grabbed the baseball bat and swung it at its head. Matt stared at her. She kept hitting him until it stopped moving.

***

Tyler and Stefanie carefully put the rifle and the ammunition ran to get their parents, Tyler put his hand on the doorknob to push the door completely open, but Stefanie held him back. Tyler was about to protest until the woman slapped the back of his head, pointing at the two adults on the couch.

"They're crying," Stefanie whispered. Tyler blinked when he heard his name, followed by his sister's name.

 _They're worrying about us,_ he thought sadly. _There isn't enough food to provide us._

Suddenly their father looked up, quickly wiping his tears away and clearing their throat. He got up and opened the door, allowing the siblings inside.

"What's wrong?" Stefanie asked carefully, as if she was treading on sensitive ground. Tyler glanced at her, quietly giving her a warning look. Stefanie nervously gnawed on her lip, for a moment she looked half her age, but the image quickly faded. Their father took a deep breath and started talking.

"Once our food runs out, someone has to venture out and somehow get new food, and I'm the one going tomorrow. Then we can split the food up and save it for a few days, until it's safe to evacuate to another part of the country. They'll come to get us," he explained. A tear rolled down their mother's cheek. Tyler's heart broke a bit.

 _He can't go out, Mom needs him. Whatever happens,_ I'm _the one leaving the bunker tomorrow,_ he vowed in silence.

"Anyways, what's wrong?" his mother asked. Tyler cleared his throat, looking at Stefanie for a moment. She nodded.

"You might want to see this for yourself," he remarked.

***

Safiya and Rosanna were desperately trying to wake Mike, without any success. He remained unconscious. The petite brunette sighed, slamming the ground of frustration.

"Hit him with the bat again, maybe he'll wake up," Safiya tried to cheer her up, but that failed miserably.

 _Brilliant, now she hates you even more,_ Safiya thought bitterly.

"Sorry," she said eventually. "I was trying to cheer you up."

Rosanna didn't answer, she kept pinching Mike's shoulder in the hope fhat he would wake up. Safiya heard a hiss, she looked over Rosanna's head.

"Oh, I swear to-" she started, annoyed. She saw a zombie stumbling towards them, its mouth wide open, Safiya wouldn't be suprised if it started drooling. Rosanna looked over her shoulder. She snatched the baseball bat and got up in one moment, running towards the creature.

She went off against the zombie, releasing her frustration through her hits.

After the zombie stopped moving, Rosanna took a deep breath. Safiya gaped at her as she knelt down next to Mike again, not saying anything. Rosanna was a bit embarrassed, but Safiya didn't say anything about it. Taking a shaky breath, Rosanna rested Mike's head in her lap, closing her eyes to stop the tears.

Realizing Rosanna had tears in her eyes, Safiya panicked, not knowing what to do to help her. She never had to deal with friend who were sad because she never had friends. Safiya bit her lip, looking at Rosanna. She took a deep breath, wondering what she had to say.

"It's okay, he'll wake up," Safiya mumbled eventually. The brunette sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"I know, I just feel bad," Rosanna explained, her voice thick with emotion. She ran his fingers through Mike's hair. "I like him, I really do, I don't know what I should do without him."

"As soon as this mess ends, you'll be together," Safiya said, trying to comfort her. Rosanna scoffed.

" _If_ this mess ends."

***

Tyler showed his parents the boxs with ammunition and weapons. His mother gasped in suprise, but his father stayed suprisingly calm.

"So, Aurora decided to put them here after all," he said lightly. Tyler furrowed his brows, he didn't know who that person was. His father must've seen his confused expression because he smiled at his son.

"The person who offered this bunker for us to use," he quickly explained. Tyler nodded.

"That's wonderful, but _why_ do we have this?" Stefanie asked.

"In case we have to go outside, which I have to do tomorrow." Tyler sharply inhaled. Stefanie cast him a look, her eyes narrowed to small splits.

"Just worried, that's all," reassured Tyler. She didn't look like she believed it.

***

Mike slowly opened his eyes, but closed them again, the sun was too overwhelming. His head throbbing. The last thing he remembered was seeing Rosanna and a sharp pain through his head. Mike felt two pair of hands shake his body and two voices in the distance telling him to open his eyes again. Reluctantly, he opened them again, seeing a small blurry figure leaning over him. Mike's vision slowly sharpened. He met a pair of worried brown eyes.

"Rosanna?" Mike said groggily. The petite brunette nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. She hugged him. Mike heard someone else exhale slowly. He turned his head and saw Safiya, resting her hands in her lap, her eyes bewildered.

"What happened?" he asked. Rosanna's eyes widened, she looked at the raven-haired girl, opening her mouth to say something but closed it again.

"Well... Uhm..." Safiya started, not finishing her sentences. Mike slowly sat up, suddenly he noticed two zombies lying behind Rosanna.

"What the-"

"Oh, they're dead," Rosanna looked at them too. "Atleast, I think they are. I mean- well, they are- the- were- you know, dead but-" Safiya shaked her head, stopping the girl from talking. She got up.

"We can talk later, first we need to find Matt and Stephanie, and then get him to your parents," Safiya pressed.

***

Carefully putting two guns in his backpack, Tyler tried to be as quiet as possible. He knew Stefanie was already suspicious of him, and if she noticed Tyler was out of his bed and gone... Well, he wanted to grow old before he passed away.

He put some more ammunition and food and water in his bag and carefully sneaked towards the hatch, taking a deep breath before opening it very slowly. Jumping out, Tyler took in the fresh air and quickly the bunker again. He squinted his eyes because of the bright sunlight.

Scanning the area around him, he gasped. Most of the trees were knocked down, it seemed like some of them burned while doing so. Carefully stepping over the smoking branches, Tyler smelled the scent of burnt wood.

Suddenly three words flew through his head.

_Did Safiya survive?_

Tyler knew it was selfish only thinking of Safiya, since he hadn't even known her for that long and while his other friends were somewhere out there, but he pushed the thought away. His family was more important now.

 _Food, I need to get food, then go back to the bunker. Just be quick and you'll be back before they're coming to evacuate you,_ he recited in his head.

Sighing softly, he started to walk towards the town.

***

"C'mon Mike, let's get you up on your feet," Rosanna said gently, grabbing his hand. Safiya was hesitant to touch him. Rosanna shot her a look. Safiya swallowed and grabbed Mike's arm, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"I don't bite," Mike remarked. Safiya kept her mouth shut, dragging him up. "Thank you."

Rosanna smiled, squeezing his hand before letting go. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Mike promised. "I just want to find the others before we get attacked by the undead again, I'd like to be safe." He cast a look at the bodies of the two zombies. "Unless Ro became some kind of assassin in the time we were on our own." Rosanna mumbled something. Safiya narrowed her eyes and looked into the distance.

"Guys, there's people there." She pointed at the small group of people.

Mike and Rosanna followed her finger.

"Are those my parents?" Rosanna asked. Safiya hesitantly shaked her head. "No, they aren't, sorry. I was just hoping it were them," Rosanna confessed, rubbing her arm. Safiya tightened her grip on the baseball bat and took off running.

It was refreshing, not getting chased for a moment. Clearing her throat, Safiya slowed down, keeping her gaze focused on the group. She frowned, seeing that they were moving quite slowly.

"Hey!" Safiya halted, reaching out to tap a boy on his shoulder, but before she touches him, he turned around. Safiya gasped and backed up, nearly stumbling over an exploded piece of stone. She dropped the bat in shock, half of his face was ripped off and his clothes were soaked with blood.

"Safiya! Come back!"

Safiya couldn't move, staring at the messed up face. She heard quick footsteps approaching, the person grabbed Safiya's hand and the baseball bat.

Rosanna pulled her away, and ran back towards Mike. They heard growling and hissing behind them.

"Mike, I hope you can run fast."

***


End file.
